New friends
by Kerriss
Summary: Blaine doesn't seem to want to be more than friends with Kurt and it's getting frustrating. What happens when a new boy makes his feeling for Kurt very clear? Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of it's characters, all original characters are mine!
1. Chapter 1

**This is one of three stories which I've posted the first chapter of (along with Trust in me and Dalton deceit) and the one which gets the most reviews will get priority for updating.**

…**.**

**Kurt has been at Dalton for two months and seems to be settling in well. He lives in the Warbler House and shares his room with Nick. Blaine is still acting as a mentor and while Kurt is still absolutely besotted he is beginning to think nothing will ever come of it. Kurt, Blaine, Nick and Jeff are all juniors.**

…**..**

"Morning sunshine," laughed Blaine as Kurt opened his dorm door looking less than happy.

"Too tired, who invented Mondays?"

"C'mon let's go get some coffee in your system and all will be better!"

As the boys made their way over to the dining hall Kurt entertained Blaine with stories from his ND sleepover on Saturday night which had developed into a late lunch on Sunday followed by movie and coffee and resulting in him only just making it back to Dalton in time for curfew.

"Honestly the amount of drama that lot can get into in a week is amazing!" While Kurt was enjoying being at Dalton he still felt very close to his New Directions group, they were the original dysfunctional family and even though he had left he knew they still cared greatly for him. In fact he almost felt closer to them now than he had while he was at McKinley.

As the boys finished off their breakfast and coffee the warning bell rang signalling ten minutes until the start of the first class. Blaine walked Kurt along the corridor before heading off to calculus and Kurt walked the last few steps to history alone.

He entered the classroom just ahead of Mr Stevens and quickly took his seat as the noise subsided. The lesson started and Kurt diligently took notes and tried to pay attention, thankful that at least some of the caffeine had finally seeped into his brain. Halfway through the lesson the teacher stopped and wrote in large letters 'Pair presentations' on the board. Immediately muttering started around the room as boys began waving and calling to friends across the room.

Kurt felt his stomach drop as the buzz around the room continued while the teacher handed out notes on the upcoming assignment. While he had friends in his dorms and got on well with many of the Warblers he really didn't know any of the boys in his history class and he sighed deeply resigning himself to doing the work alone. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the excited buzz had changed to moans and quiet grumbles. Quickly lifting his head he tuned into what the grey haired teacher was saying.

"I have decided this is the fairest way, I will pull pairs and you must work with that person. While you may not like it this is the way life works outside the confines of school, we don't always get to work with friends and we have to find ways to make it work!"

Ah, thought Kurt, so that was the problem. No one was getting to choose their partners and he was possibly the only person not upset by the thought. As he looked over to the desk he realised that the teacher was starting to draw names already, better to get it over with then he thought.

"Barry you will be with Scott. James and Thomas are together. The next pair is Edward and…. Kurt."

Kurt looked round trying to work out which boy was Edward, he didn't even recognise the name but suddenly all the students were standing up, packing their bags, moving around so he was still in the dark. Taking a deep breath he began to pack up his books too when he heard a polite cough coming from behind him. Turning around his eyes quickly took in the tall, dark haired boy with deep brown eyes.

"Hi," said the deep voice, "I'm Eddie Mayers, I don't think we've ever properly been introduced."

"Kurt Hummel, nice to meet you," he said, shaking the offered hand.

"So, history presentation, I guess we should get started straight away as we've only got two weeks to put it together. Are you free after school today?"

Kurt was rather taken aback by the motivated student. The project wasn't huge and he wasn't expecting to start immediately but if he was honest he'd rather get it out of the way too.

"I've got Warblers practice until 5pm but then I'm free if you want to meet then?"

"Cool, we can gather some initial ideas before dinner. I'll meet you in the library then. Give me your phone number in case we need to change the plans"

"Great." Kurt replied typing his number in Eddie's phone and rather intrigued by the boy. Maybe he could find out some information about him before they met in the afternoon.

As Kurt sat down for lunch he had still not had a chance to ask anyone about Eddie but there was only Wes and Nick at the lunch table so he took the opportunity. "Erm, do either of you happen to know anything about Eddie Mayers?" he asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant way.

Wes' eyes flew open and he began to choke on his chicken. Taking a drink and a few deep breaths he looked across at Kurt, "How do you know Eddie?"

"I've been paired with him for a project and I don't know anything about him which is why I'm asking."

"Eddie's a nice enough guy but he was involved in some…erm… some stuff last year which got pretty nasty. I thought they'd kicked him out but his daddy has obviously managed to buy his way back in."

"OK, so what, try to change partners, don't accept any cookies from him? What sort of stuff? Do I need to worry?"

Nick looked across at Kurt's worried face and couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, it's fine. He's a good guy who just took some bad advice last year and ended up in trouble. I'm sure he's learnt his lesson and Dalton wouldn't have let him back in if they thought he'd still be trouble."

Kurt turned back to his salad and started to pick at the lettuce, suddenly he'd lost his appetite. He was flipping bits of cucumber over wondering if he should try to change partners, he really didn't want to get involved in any trouble when he was aware of a hand waving in front of his face and laughing coming from beside him. Rubbing his eyes to bring himself out of his thoughts he looked up to see Blaine's deep hazel eyes staring at him intently. "Did you find any unicorns then?" Kurt's look of confusion clearly showed as Blaine laughed again before adding, "You were off in dreamland, I assumed you were chasing unicorns."

"No, I was wondering where the rainbow would lead to," Kurt replied snappily. He caught how Blaine's smile faltered slightly, great now Blaine thought he was mad at him but as he quickly glanced round the table he noticed Wes and Nick had left, how long had he been sitting there? Taking a deep breath Kurt turned back to Blaine, "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped," he said quietly.

"No worries," and the tenor took a drink from his water, "seriously though are you alright? You looked pretty deep in thought."

"Yes, I'm fine, it's just going to be a long day." Blaine took a long look at him and then deciding that he clearly wasn't in any immediate danger launched into a story about his chemistry class.

**Sorry had to stop there otherwise the chapter became huge!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So this story got the most interest and as promised here's chapter 2. Obviously more feedback means you get quicker updates!**

…**.**

Kurt arrived for Warbler's practice and took a seat next to Trent who immediately started asking his advice on a possible outfit for a date later in the week. They had finally agreed that Kurt would come over to his room the next evening and help him when Blaine came rushing in and sat next to him muttering something about horrid teachers and sadists when Wes banged his gavel and rehearsal started.

The first part of rehearsal was fine, they did vocal warmups and then ran through a couple of numbers but then the council stopped and told everyone to take a seat. As usual the council made their announcements and a debate started about song selection and possible performances. Kurt was vaguely aware of Blaine bouncing as he agreed or disagreed and possibly he even tried to speak to him but Kurt was zoned out. His thoughts were entirely focussed on his meeting with Eddie after the rehearsal. What if this guy was dangerous? What if he saw Kurt as an easy target? What if he had been involved in drugs or guns? He almost wished he hadn't asked Nick and Wes at lunch as his mind was now working overtime. Surely Dalton wouldn't let anyone back in who was dangerous, no matter how much money his family had, surely he was not a threat to Kurt's newly found safety?

He was pulled from his thoughts by someone patting his knee and for the second time that day he saw the warm, hazel eyes of his mentor looking at him in concern. "Do you want to grab a coffee and talk? You look really pale and I'm pretty sure you didn't hear a word that the council said."

Looking at his watch Kurt realised it was already five minutes past five and grabbing his bag he jumped up, "Sorry I can't, I'm late and need to change," and he raced off. After the lunchtime incident Kurt had decided it was better not to mention Eddie to anyone else, especially Blaine who he knew took his mentor role very seriously and would try to protect him. Dashing off Kurt missed the disappointed look on Blaine's face as he watched his best friend run out the door, David on the other hand witnessed the whole scene.

"You ok?" asked David cautiously.

"Yeah, I just…" Blaine wasn't sure what to say.

"Right," David nodded his head slowly, clearly not buying it. The two of them stood awkwardly and once it was clear Blaine wasn't going to offer any more he added, "Kurt seemed in a rush."

"He said he was late and had to change."

"Well you know Kurt, he does like an excuse for fashion! What is he late for?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

"So now you are standing here looking like a kicked puppy because….."

"Who's looking like a kicked puppy?" Wes asked having finished his discussion with Thad about possible regional songs. He looked at David and then Blaine, the glistening eyes told him instantly who the kicked puppy was.

"Never mind, I'm heading back to the dorms," huffed Blaine and he dashed away from them.

Wes looked at David expectantly, the taller boy let out a sigh, "Blaine asked Kurt to go for coffee but he said he was late for something and now Blaine is upset but won't admit it!"

"So the usual drama then!"

"Exactly, come on Wes we might as well make a start to some homework before the second act starts at dinner time!"

…..

When Kurt rushed into the library he spotted Eddie straight away, he was sitting at a table near the back and with his height he could clearly be seen over other students. He was reading something and had a pile of thick books sitting on the table next to him. Kurt walked over slowly taking deep breaths but also using the time to look at the boy who he had built into some kind of monster over the afternoon. He didn't look scary, in fact he was really quite good looking, very masculine with a strong jaw, long muscular neck and large dark brown eyes and…..Kurt shook his head trying to clear his head of thoughts which were certainly not appropriate for a study partner.

Eddie looked up as he approached the table and gave Kurt a huge grin, almost cheeky and certainly very cute. Kurt felt himself blush as he tried again to clear his head of inappropriate thoughts but couldn't help return the smile. "Sorry I'm late, practice ran over and then I had to get changed and….."

"Hey no worries," Eddie interrupted, "it gave me a chance to start work on the joy of my economics essay." He motioned for Kurt to take a seat, the young boy had been frozen to the spot at the edge of the table. Closing his notebook Eddie smiled again, "so which of the following regimes do you feel has most impacted on modern life?" Kurt blinked in surprise, what a weird question. Eddie laughed, "That's the project question, have you not had a chance to look at the assignment yet."

"Sorry, no I'm really sorry, I've had a very busy afternoon. Maybe we should leave this and try again another day."

"It's fine Kurt, you really need to relax more! Why don't I go back to my wonderful economics homework and you can spend 20 minutes reading through the assignment and then we can talk."

"Yes, thank you, good plan." Kurt pulled out the pile of papers they had been given that morning and began to read. As he worked his way through he made notes on the pages but also found himself taking more than a few looks at his partner, the boy was still a mystery but at least he was a good looking one.

…

True to his word 20 minutes later Eddie stopped and asked Kurt if he was ready to discuss the project. They found they agreed on almost every idea and they had a pretty good outline sketched out when Mrs Brown, the librarian approached then to say the library would be shutting in 10 minutes. Kurt looked at his watch and right enough it was ten to eight, "Wow, it's true, time flies when you're having fun," he said with a grin.

"Oh, you've had fun?" Eddie said laughing, "that's where I went wrong, I've been working hard."

"Oi, don't make it sound like you've been doing all the work on your own," joked Kurt, putting the books he needed in a pile to check out.

"Seriously though I'm glad I got paired with you Kurt, this has got to be one of the first times I've got an assignment planned out and started on the day I got it, I'm more a last minute kind of guy."

"Really, so why did you approach me this morning?"

"Well you looked a bit lost and I assumed you were trying to work out who I was."

"Very perceptive and you were quite right. I have to admit I hadn't even noticed you before." Kurt felt his cheeks blush again at his confession.

"It's a long story but I've been out of school for a while, I only returned last week." Kurt's face fell as he remembered what Nick and Wes said.

The two boys left the library and were walking towards the dorms when Eddie spoke again, "Look we've missed dinner and I'm pretty hungry. There's still two hours until curfew so do you fancy joining me, there's a little diner I like a few towns down." Kurt swallowed hard, not sure if he really should be alone with this guy, "they do great salads, or so I'm told," Eddie chuckled, "I'm afraid lettuce doesn't do much for me but I know you like it!"

Kurt froze on the spot, he knew what Kurt liked to eat! Eddie had walked a few more steps before he noticed Kurt had stopped. He smiled at the confused look on the shorter boys face before he walked back over to him. "Sorry, didn't mean to freak you out, it's just I kind of noticed you last week and I've been paying attention when I see you around."

"You noticed me, what does that mean?" Kurt's heart started to race again, here he was in the deserted courtyard with a boy who potentially was just another bully and had just admitted to staking him out.

Eddie's eyes drew just a bit narrower, he took a deep breath and stepped closer to where Kurt was standing, rigid. As he realised Eddie was coming nearer Kurt instinctively jumped back, his old fear and survival instincts taking over. Eddie couldn't help the look of concern flooding his face but he recognised fear so he took a step back to where he had been and held his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"Kurt," his voice shook as he spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, that's the last thing I wanted."

"What did you mean when you said you noticed me?" Eddie frowned as Kurt couldn't disguise the fear in his voice.

"I meant that when I walked into the dining hall on my first morning back I saw the most stunning boy laughing with a group of Warblers and as I edged nearer and saw his beautiful blue piercing eyes and heard his uniquely fabulous voice I knew I wanted to know more about him." Eddie edged nearer to Kurt as he spoke, the Warbler's blue eyes gazing right into the dark pools of the older boy, never wavering. Dropping his voice to a whisper as he was close enough to touch Kurt now Eddie continued, "I was so happy this morning when we were paired together because I finally had a reason to speak to you. You see I asked about you that first week but everyone seemed to think you were with Blaine but I haven't seen much sign of it, sure you're often together but I've never seen you kiss and if you are together then you kiss right? So I'm asking you Kurt, are you and Blaine together?"

"Um….well…..it's just…..no, no I'm not with Blaine." Kurt's stomach was in knots and his voice sounded wrong. He couldn't quite absorb what he was hearing. Here was this gorgeous boy who Kurt had spent too much time thinking about during the day telling him how beautiful he was. More than that he had just admitted that he was not with Blaine however much he wanted to be.

"Right so for clarification purposes you are not dating Blaine?"

"No I am not dating Blaine, never have, we're just friends."

"OK, so now we've cleared that up is there any reason you can't join me for dinner tonight at my favourite little diner which serves great salads?" There was a smirk on Eddie's face as he added, "I promise to keep my hands to myself!"

Laughing with him Kurt nodded, "I'd love to join you."

….

**So what do you think of Eddie? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all the lovely comments and for all you amazing people who have followed the story and added it to your favourites. As this was finished and I'm sure you want to know what happens once Kurt and Eddie actually go for dinner I thought I'd give you a weekend treat! So enjoy and let me know what you thought of it.**

…**.**

They laughed and chatted as they made their way over to Eddie's car and both dropped their school bags in the trunk before climbing in. Putting the radio on they enjoyed a comfortable silence punctuated by the one or both of them quietly singing along to a song. Kurt watched trees and houses whizz by as they sped along occasionally letting his gaze fall on the handsome driver. Eddie glanced over at the same time as Kurt and the dark eyes locked with the bright blue ones, Kurt felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment but the smile on Eddie's face reassured him that all was well.

Twenty minutes later they pulled into a car park and the two Dalton boys jumped out of the car and made their way over to the restaurant. Once seated in a booth near the back Kurt finally felt himself relax a bit. The diner did indeed have a good choice of salads so Eddie had been telling the truth and he was sitting opposite Kurt rather than squeezed in next to him so he also seemed to be telling the truth about keeping his hands to himself!

Once the boys had ordered they made small talk about classes, teachers, clubs etc until the food arrived. Eddie immediately took a large bite from his burger but Kurt sat with his fork poised over his Cajun chicken but clearly with something on his mind. Raising his eyebrows in question Eddie continued to chew his burger trying to give Kurt time to speak, "Why are we here?"

Choking for a second on the question Eddie replied, "Well that's a pretty big question. It's kind of up there with what is the meaning of life?"

Kurt looked at him in confusion before realising what he meant, "Not that, you said a lot of stuff before we left Dalton and I just want to know if this is some sort of game or bet." Seeing Eddie's confusion he immediately added, "I'm happy to play along to help win you the bet, well depending on what the bet is, I just want to know."

"Why on earth would you think this was a bet?"

"Well you said all that stuff about me and I know it's not true so I'm guessing some of your friends have made a bet about you going out with the damaged transfer student. Does it help you seem more badass or something?" Finally looking at Eddie, Kurt realised the taller boy was visibly wounded by his comments, "Sorry, I didn't want to upset you, it's just better for me to know now."

"Wow!" Eddie took a long drink of coke and then sat for a few more moments trying to calm himself before he spoke again, "Is your self esteem really that poor?" Tears threatened to bubble over from Kurt, "Sorry, terrible choice of words. OK cards on the table, we are here for several reasons, firstly we missed dinner and I was hungry and assumed you would be too." Kurt nodded in acknowledgement. "OK, good, the second reason we are here is because of the stuff I said at Dalton, I noticed you within an hour of being back last week. You are so different to the usual Dalton robots, you've got personality and individuality and that's before I start on how gorgeous you are."

Kurt's face was scarlet and he could feel his heart racing from a mixture of adrenaline and fear. He still wasn't convinced this wasn't a bet and as if reading his mind Eddie reached over and wrapped his long fingers around one of Kurt's delicate hands, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin, "I promise you this is not some dare or bet but I've got no way of proving it to you. I hadn't intended to tell you any of this yet, I wanted to spend some time with you in a group, build up slowly before asking you out but fate played her hand and we were partnered together."

"So is this a date?" Kurt asked with a gulp.

"No," Kurt's face fell, his eyes looked down to his abandoned plate, "but only because I didn't ask you out properly." He continued as Kurt looked confused, "You know arrange a time to pick you up, we both spend time feeling nervous, panicking about what to wear etc."

"I never worry about what to wear," Kurt said with more confidence than he felt.

"I know, I love your sense of style, it's so much more daring than jeans and a T-shirt. But for a date I would have a plan and we would go somewhere and make small talk and keep stealing glances at each other both wondering if and when we will kiss."

"So if this isn't a date what is it?"

"This my dear is dinner, so eat!" Kurt gave Eddie one of his biggest smiles and tucked into his salad which was indeed absolutely delicious.

They chatted away as they finished their meal, discussing favourite movies, singers, places they wanted to visit, what they wanted to do after high school etc but one thing was still niggling at the back of Kurt's mind. As the waitress brought over the check Eddie looked at Kurt with a serious expression, "OK, whatever it is just ask?"

"How did you…."

"You've had a frown for about the last fifteen minutes, clearly there is something on your mind so just ask."

"You said that you had been asking about me," Eddie nodded in acknowledgment, "well I asked about you too."

"Ah ok, so what did you hear because frankly half the stuff I've heard about me, I'd be scared to be alone with me?" Kurt's face flushed again. "Oh crap, you didn't want to be alone with me and I made you come."

"No, no you didn't force me to do anything." Kurt blurted out, "and for the record I've really enjoyed talking with you, you're a pretty interesting guy."

A genuine smile graced Eddie's face and then quickly fell again, "So what did you hear?"

"Not much to be honest. The first two I asked said you had been kicked out and Daddy's money had obviously bought your way back in again but they wouldn't say why you were kicked out. I was too scared to ask anyone else."

Eddie nodded along, chuckling softly as he listened. "So what did Blaine say when you told him we were partnered together?"

"I didn't….he doesn't know….it didn't seem important."

"In other words you were scared of his reaction."

Kurt nodded slowly, "I didn't want a lecture, we were paired together so it wasn't something I chose and I really didn't expect to be having dinner with you." At that moment Kurt suddenly realised he hadn't told Blaine he was off campus and at the same time Eddie realised the time.

"Oh crap, we've got to go Kurt, there's only 25 minutes till curfew and it's a 20 minute drive!"

Eddie quickly paid the check, Kurt assured him he would settle his half with him in the morning and the two boys rushed out to the car. Once Eddie had pulled out of the parking lot Kurt pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and realised it was still on silent from class that day. Swiping his finger across to access the screen he found he had 8 texts and 3 missed calls most of them from Blaine.

17.50 From Blaine – We're going to dinner in 10 minutes. Are you joining us?

18.15 From Blaine – Are you coming to dinner or do you want me to pick something up for you?

19.12 From Mercedes – Hi Boo, have you forgotten our skype date? I'll be logged in for a while, call me.

19.14 From Blaine – Where are you? No one's seen you since Warblers.

19.18 Voicemail from Dad – Hey kiddo, just thought I'd check in since you're clearly having too much fun to talk to your old man. Give me a call when you have a chance. Love you Kurt.

19.23 From Blaine – We're going to watch a movie in Jeff and Trent's room if you want to join us.

20.50 Missed call Blaine

20.58 From Blaine – Are you mad at me or something? Why are you not answering?

21.02 From Finn – Hey dude, it's Rachel's birthday next week and she keeps telling me I need to do something special. Can you help?

21.26 Missed call Blaine

21.27 From Blaine – Kurt, you're freaking me out. I know you're not in your dorm and there's only half an hour till curfew. Where are you?

Kurt let out a long sigh as he read through the messages, he did feel guilty that Blaine was so worried and was about to text him when his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID he pressed the button

"_Kurt, thank goodness, where have you been?"_ Blaine scolded over the phone.

"Sorry I was just about to call, I've only just checked my phone."

"_Where are you, it's nearly curfew? Do you want me to come and meet you halfway?"_

"No I'm fine, I'm about 10 minutes away." Kurt tried not to giggle as Eddie pulled a series of faces obviously realising Kurt was being told off.

"_What, you went off campus and didn't tell anyone! Your car is still here so who are you with?" _

"Blaine I don't need to tell anyone if I am going off campus as long as I'm back by curfew. I'll be up in a few minutes. Goodbye." With that Kurt ended the call and turned to see Eddie laughing hard as he pulled into his parking space.

"So Blaine's a bit protective then?" He said unable to help himself as the two boys got out of the car.

"He sees himself as my mentor and takes the role very seriously. I think I'll be lucky if he doesn't try to ground me!"

"I see, so he'd be very protective if someone tried to come near you," Kurt looked confused, "I mean if someone was to try and kiss you for example."

"Well he'd probably want to run full background checks on all their family and insist on me having a chaperone any time I was with them."

"Right, and what about you," Kurt knew his face was flushed pink and he was biting his bottom lip trying to contain his excitement and anxiety. "What would you say if someone, oh I don't know, maybe your history partner wanted to kiss you."

"I'd say…..yes," Eddie leaned forward and Kurt raised a hand to pause him, "but it would have to be quick because it's 3 minutes until curfew"

Eddie leaned forward and very gently brushed his lips against Kurts. "Well I guess that will have to do for now, maybe we can avoid your chaperone another time and try something a bit more involved!"

They grabbed their bags from the trunk and walked swiftly along towards the dorms not quite holding hands but their fingers brushed together several times. Reaching Warbler House first Kurt turned towards Eddie, "Thank you for an interesting evening and I would definitely be interested in meeting again without my chaperone."

"Library again tomorrow, say 4 o'clock?" Kurt looked blankly at Eddie who just laughs. "We still have a history presentation to finish."

"Of course, see you in the library tomorrow then." Eddie leaned over and quickly kissed Kurt's cheek before running off to make it back to Murray House with seconds to spare.

Kurt slowly opened the door to Warbler House trying to memorise the feeling of Eddie's lips on his cheek and was immediately met by a very angry looking Blaine who grabbed his arm and literally marched him to his dorm room. Once Kurt had opened the door Blaine pushed him in and followed behind, his eyes glowering at a rather alarmed Nick who was sitting on his bed reading, Blaine's gaze warned him not to speak.

"What the hell is your problem Blaine?"

"My problem is you disappeared, no one knew where you were and you stroll in a minute before curfew as if you haven't a care in the world."

"The whole point of curfew is you have to be back by it, which I am. What I do outside before that time is none of your damn business!" The two boys stood glaring at each other, neither willing to back down. The decision was taken out of their hands when the dorm door opened and Jack, the house prefect walked in checking the rooms.

"Blaine, it's curfew, back to your own room."

"I'm just going," he muttered still looking at Kurt. "We'll talk about this tomorrow," and he stormed out slamming the door behind him.

Jack looked at the two juniors in confusion. "Did I miss something?" Nick and Kurt both shook their heads, "Ok, night then guys."

Kurt flopped down on his bed trying not to let his anger at Blaine overtake the wonderous feeling of Eddie kissing him. After a few moments there is a loud cough from the other side of the room and he looked up to see Nick looking at him expectantly. "So are you going to tell me where you were and what you've done to get Blaine's knickers in a twist?"

"Ahh, the boy is such a drama queen…and that's coming from me!" Nick laughed at this but Kurt stood up grabbing his pyjamas, "let me get ready for bed and then we can talk."

Kurt took his time with his moisturising routine and getting into his pyjamas hoping that Nick would have fallen asleep by the time he came out of the bathroom. Unfortunately for him Nick was far too interested in why Blaine was so mad and was sitting up on his bed expectantly. Kurt wandered around the bedroom, putting books in a pile, tidying up his pens, placing his dirty clothes in the laundry hamper etc until Nick eventually ran out of patience. "Enough stalling Kurt, what's going on?"

With a frustrated sigh Kurt flopped down on his bed, "Blaine's just annoyed because I went out and didn't tell him."

"Went out where? You weren't at dinner and he was pretty concerned that no one had seen you."

"I was working in the library and then went off campus to get something to eat as we'd missed dinner."

Nick's face broke into a knowing smile, "So WE went off campus, anyone I know?"

"So eager for gossip Mr Duval! There's nothing to tell, it's all completely innocent."

"You know you want to tell me," Kurt shook his head, "OK, well if you do want to talk I'm here. And try not to be mad at Blaine, he really cares about you."

"I know," Kurt whispered as he lay down and let memories of the day carry him off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**So another update and I'm halfway through the next chapter (go me!). I hope you enjoy the way this is heading, apparently I can't write happy without quite a bit of angst and with three stories on the go I got mixed up with what was happening in each so poor Kurt suffers similar issues in all three but in very varying degrees of severity! Oh and I think Blaine needs to remain clueless for just a bit longer.**

…**.**

The next morning Kurt was stalling in his room, not willing to face Blaine at breakfast. He knew the boy was still going to be mad and frankly he didn't have the energy to bother with his moods. Nick came out of the bathroom and laughed as he watched Kurt fixing his hair in the same way he had been when Nick had gone into the bathroom ten minutes earlier.

"You know you're just delaying the inevitable!" the dark haired singer chuckled. "Blaine's going to come and find you if you don't come down to breakfast!"

"I know…it's just I'm not sure what it is I'm supposed to do. Is he mad because I went out or because I went out without him?"

"Well, you'd get a more definite answer if you spoke to him rather than me but I would reckon he's more annoyed because no one knew where you were and he was worried."

"So what do I do?"

"Apologise for worrying him. That's probably the easiest thing."

…..

Surprisingly by the time Kurt and Nick got down to breakfast Blaine had already left. Feeling the tension flow from his body Kurt was delighted to tuck into some breakfast and enjoyed chatting away with Nick and Jeff about nothing in particular.

He didn't share any classes with Blaine during the morning so was not particularly surprised that he didn't see him at all. By lunchtime he had almost forgotten all about their fight last night but as he reached over to collect a tuna wrap from the chilled counter he heard roaring laughter coming from the dining hall and as he looked over he realised Blaine was sitting with Niff and Wevid as usual. His stomach immediately twisted in knots as he knew that he could not put off meeting again any longer.

With his wrap in one hand he opened the fridge to pull out a bottle of water and felt another hand on top of his. Turning round he was met by Eddie's smiling face, "Sorry, did I frighten you?" the taller boy asked. "It's just you seemed to be moving in slow motion, I thought I could help you speed up the process." His eyes sparkled with mirth as he appreciated his own sense of humour.

"Sorry, it's just Blaine is over there and I guess I'm trying to delay getting my knuckles wrapped for my apparently 'pathetic behaviour' last night."

"Is that what he said? You're the same age as him, he's not even your dorm's prefect."

"Well actually he is the junior prefect for Warbler House but according to Nick he was very worried about me yesterday since no one knew where I was. I suppose it should be sweet that he's concerned but frankly I just feel fed up having to account for every move I make."

"Do you want to come and have lunch with me? We could go eat in the grounds and then you don't have to worry about him at all."

"Thanks Eddie but…." At that moment a text came to Kurt's phone

**From Blaine: Where are you? Stop playing games and come and eat lunch.**

That tipped Kurt over the edge, how dare Blaine accuse him of playing games! With a smile he grabbed the bottle of water, closed the fridge and turned to face Eddie, "Let's go then."

…..

The two boys wandered through the grounds and found a bench underneath a tree and began to eat. There was little conversation between them but the silence was not uncomfortable, in fact as Kurt finished his wrap he found himself so relaxed the thought of going back to class very unwelcome. As if to bring him out of his drowsy sleep his phone gave another cheep and with a small, apologetic smile he looked at his phone:

**From Blaine: Just let me know you are alright, please.**

"So what does your big, brave protector want?"

"To check that I'm alright, I guess I should have told him that I wasn't going to have lunch with him. I'd better text him back and assure him I haven't been kidnapped."

"Or lost in the maze of Dalton or locked in a broom closet or under a pile of books in the library or of course being taken advantage of by an older stranger!" With that Eddie slowly leaned forward and gave Kurt a very gentle kiss on the lips and as he pulled back the look in his eyes was clearly asking permission for more.

Without hesitation the younger boy leaned forward and whispered in Eddie's ear, "You're not a stranger and it's not taking advantage if I initiate it!" With that Kurt wrapped his arms around Eddie's neck and pulled him closer for the more involved kiss they had discussed the night before. Both boys were thoroughly engrossed in their own world, lips locked and tongues battling when suddenly Eddie pushed Kurt off and looked round.

"What's wrong?"

"I think that was the warning bell, we'd better go."

As they stood up and picked up their bags Kurt glanced at his phone and noticed not only another unopened text message but the time. "Shit Eddie, that wasn't the warning bell, it was the final one. See you later in the library." With that Kurt ran off to English cursing that not only was he late but it was one of the few classes he shared with Blaine, Nick and Jeff. He also realised belatedly that he had never got round to sending that text to tell Blaine he was eating lunch elsewhere.

…..

With a deep breath Kurt opened the classroom door and walked into the silent room. Of course all eyes looked up and he could feel his face turning a bright shade of red. Miss Peterson looked over with a very grim expression and waited for him to cross the room to talk to her while every boy in the class waited silently to see what sort of mood she was in.

"Mr Hummel, very kind of you to join us. Do you have a late slip or a wonderfully imaginative excuse for missing the start of my class?"

"No late slip miss. I'm sorry but I was working on a project in the library and didn't hear the first bell."

"That is disappointing and I had such high hopes for you. Well I could just give you detention for being late but I'm feeling creative today so here is my decision Mr Hummel, the class are taking a test today. If you score more than 90% I won't mention this again, less than that and you have 3 days of detention." With that she handed Kurt a test paper and pointed towards a desk at the front with a smile. Ignoring the looks of concern, annoyance and disapproval which were coming from his friends Kurt quickly sat down and opened the test paper and relief flooded over him as he realised it was about a book which he had read several times and studied both at McKinley and Dalton (with differing levels of intensity).

At the end of the class Miss Peterson asked Kurt to remain behind so she could mark what he had done. He managed to achieve exactly 90% and let out a small whoop of joy. The elderly teacher looked at him over the top of his glasses before she started to speak, "While I congratulate you on your mark rest assured Mr Hummel that I will not be so kind next time. Dalton prides itself on high standards of academic achievement but also behaviour, starting with punctuality. Do not underestimated the impression you give people by arriving late. However I won't mention this again and urge you to be on time for my class from now on," and with a slight smile she handed him a slip of paper, "and here's a late slip for your next class."

…

Kurt had gym last lesson along with Blaine, Nick and Jeff, it was a subject he hated with a passion but it was compulsory so he just had to get on with it. As he was late due to being kept back in English everyone else was already changed and down by the track so Kurt managed to avoid having to talk to any of them again. Once he was changed he took the opportunity to send Eddie a message to say he had managed to avoid a bullet in English and he hoped the other boy hadn't got into trouble. He was reading the text message he had received earlier from Blaine (I've got you some snack in case you need it before gym) when his phone cheeped with another message:

**From Eddie: No trouble, just cut class. See you later.**

The boys were standing in groups chatting when the teacher appeared with Kurt just seconds behind him and surprised them by announcing a fitness test, they were to run the track, the competition being to see who could run the furthest. If you walked then you were out, if you stopped you were out but you could drop out whenever you wanted after the first two laps.

The four friends took their positions at the start with everyone else and most of the boys went charging out all wanting to lead the pack. Blaine was clearly trying to keep pace with Kurt but also wanted to go faster so they could catch up with Nick and Jeff but Kurt told him to go ahead, he was setting his own pace. He didn't want Blaine beside him and he certainly didn't want to be out too quickly as he knew the three boys were desperate to quiz him on where he had been and why he had been late. As he pounded round the track he felt his mind slip into a sort of trance, he could clear his conscious thoughts and just run before everyone started yelling at him again.

As he ran he was vaguely aware of Nick dropping out, clutching his side and he knew he had overtaken several boys but he set his pace and stuck to it enjoying the rhythm of his feet beating against the hard track. This kind of hypnotic exercise was exactly what he needed as it gave him time to let his mind wander back to lunch and his time with Eddie.

The boy was older than Kurt, he was a senior and he certainly seemed interested in being with the junior. Conversation flowed effortlessly between them with Kurt's knowledge about cars earning him points and he had even told Eddie about his skills with sai swords, something which he rarely told people about. In some respects it scared him how relaxed he felt around the tall boy, how easily he spoke about his likes and dreams almost in the same way he was able to talk to Blaine but at the same time it felt good to have someone so interested in him. Sure he and Blaine talked all the time and had shared many stories but while Blaine would hug him and tell him to have courage when a difficult subject came up Eddie would kiss him.

Continuing to run he became aware that the stand at the side of the track was much fuller and there were only a handful of students still running. Letting his mind return to his boyfriend, no they weren't at that stage, two meals together and a few kisses didn't mean they were dating did it? Shaking his head to clear the confusion he thought back to the conversations they had had and he realised that he hadn't told Eddie any of the difficult stuff from McKinley. He wondered how much the senior had heard about his past from other sources.

His mind continued spiralling. Maybe Eddie thought Kurt would be easy to get into bed, desperate for attention, craving some affection. The boy was too good looking to be interested in Kurt, hell even Blaine who he had been practically throwing himself at since the first day didn't want more than friendship. Eddie has promised him that he wasn't talking with Kurt for a bet but the countertenor was not going to be used by someone wanting another notch on his bedpost either. How could he have been so stupid? Of course the older, handsome, clever student didn't want him. It was all just some mean joke.

Suddenly he felt his stomach lurch and he had to swallow back down bile. Stopping dead suddenly on the track Kurt glanced round looking for the nearest door back to the building and sprinted towards the changing room ignoring the calls from the stand.

….

Several minutes later, having deposited the contents of his stomach in the toilet Kurt slowly stood up leaning his forehead on the cool stall door breathing heavily. Why did he do this? He had let his mind wander in ways that he really shouldn't. Eddie had been nothing but kind to him and his thoughts out on the track had turned him into some kind of sex crazed monster determined to take his virginity! He needed to lie down, preferably in a dark, sealed room where no one was going to interrupt him but clearly that wasn't an option and the rest of the class would be in soon. He would have to apologise to the teacher too for running out of the lesson, literally.

"Kurt….Kurt, are you alright? Do you need anything?" Blaine's voice was gentle as he called through the bathroom door. Of course everyone had seen Kurt run off but no one knew why. Knowing he had to face the Warbler at some point Kurt opened the door and walked over to the sink to wash his face which was now a peculiar pale pink colour between being red and sweaty from running and pale from vomiting.

Without saying anything Blaine handed him a small bottle of water which he gratefully accepted and took a large swig from to rinse his mouth. He went to hand it back but Blaine held up his hand. "It was yours anyway, I got it for you at lunch. I also got you a protein bar and an apple but I guess you don't really want them right now."

Feeling both embarrassed and ashamed at the way he had been treating his friend he turned to look at the shorter boy, surprised to find that tears were forming in his eyes. "Thanks….. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted at you last night."

"Hey, don't worry about it," The lead singer reached forward and wiped a tear off Kurt's cheek as it ran down. "I may have overreacted slightly. I just…. it's just that no one knew…..you weren't answering and I panicked."

"No I was stupid, I should have told you I was going for something to eat and the same at lunch. You were just being a good friend looking out for me and I let myself get distracted."

Blaine reached forward and pulled Kurt into a hug which lasted only seconds before Kurt pushed him away complaining that they were both hot and sweaty and they should really go and get changed. Just at that moment the door flew open and Nick was standing there looking very annoyed, "Honestly Blaine, we should have known better than to let you check on Kurt. We've all been waiting to see make sure if he's alright and you two are in here having a lovely chat." The brunette's eyes went from one boy to the other clearly waiting for an explanation.

"Thank you for your concern Nick. I'm fine, I guess all the running didn't agree with my lunch but everything's better now." Kurt couldn't help but let himself smile at Blaine as he said the last part, everything was better now and he had made up with his best friend although he knew Blaine would press for details of his whereabouts another time.

"OK, good. Well you two had better get yourselves showered and changed. There's no Warbler's practise today so Jeff and I thought we might head to the mall for coffee, maybe catch a movie. Sound good to you?" The two boys readily agreed and quickly got themselves ready.

…

The four boys travelled together in Nick's car singing along to random songs on the radio. It was relaxed and fun and Kurt really felt like he had known these guys forever, the situation was so happy. There seemed to be an unspoken pact to keep the mood jovial as none of the boys had mentioned Kurt's disappearance or the fact he was late to class. Once at the mall they headed straight for a little coffee shop they knew, tucked away at the back it was usually fairly quiet but Blaine maintained it had the best coffee around.

Sitting with drinks and pastries the four boys were playfully arguing over which film to see when Kurt's phone cheeped with an incoming message. Sitting back and unlocking his phone Kurt opened the message and let out a quiet, "Oh shit!"

**16.24: From Eddie – Where are you? I thought we were meeting at 4.**

Quickly Kurt typed a reply.

**16.25: To Eddie – So sorry, I had a horrible time in gym and some of the guys suggested hitting the mall to forget about it.**

**16.26: From Eddie- Are you ok?**

**16.27: To Eddie – Fine, just too much running left me sick.**

**16.28: From Eddie – Running, see that was your second mistake!**

**16.29: To Eddie – My second mistake, what was my first?**

**16.30 From Eddie –Leaving me after lunch to go to class of course.**

Kurt let out a small chuckle at that comment especially knowing Eddie had cut class while he had got in trouble. Was this Eddie flirting? Kurt suddenly wasn't sure how to handle the conversation. He put his phone in his pocket and reached forward for his coffee cup when he realised three pairs of eyes were looking at him intently.

"What?"

"What? You tell us Kurt," Nick grinned as he replied.

"There's nothing to tell. I forgot I had a study date." Nick and Jeff exchanged grins making it quite clear to Kurt that Nick had told Jeff about their conversation last night. Blaine however was looking more troubled.

"Study date for what, with who? You should have told me if you were having trouble." Kurt was about to reply when he got another message.

**16.34 From Eddie – Well if you are back before curfew maybe you could pop over for a bit and we could do some studying. Room 315. **

Popping his phone in his pocket Kurt looked straight at Blaine, "It's nothing to worry about. I just needed to catch up on some chemistry and…..and Thad said he would help me."

"Well make sure you thank him for helping you," lectured Blaine, "He's a busy guy and he's got other things he could spend his time on."

Nick and Jeff burst out laughing at this and as Blaine looked on in confusion Kurt felt his face going bright red as Jeff replied, "Oh I'm pretty sure Kurt will thank him in an appropriate manner!"

"Anyway which movie do we want to see?" Kurt asked quickly trying to change the subject.

…..

Back at Dalton after watching possibly the worst robot action film ever made which was thankfully quite short and the grabbing slices of pizza at the mall food court the boys made their way back to the dorm rooms. As they arrived at the first floor Jeff grabbed Nick's hand to pull him along to his room for some 'studying' of their own.

Blaine turned the same way as his room was across from Jeffs' but before he went he turned to speak to Kurt, "Are you going to see Thad now?" Kurt nodded hesitantly, "Well remember to apologise for forgetting to meet earlier."

"Yes Dad, I'm sorry I was a naughty boy. It won't happen again!" Kurt spat out before turning on his heels and striding off to his dorm room.

"Honestly Blaine, what the hell was that about? Kurt's your friend and classmate, not a child you talk down to. I think you're the one who needs to apologise," snapped Nick before pulling his hand away from Jeff and running after his roommate.

"Nice one Blaine!" called Jeff as he stormed after Nick. The Warbler lead singer was left standing in the middle of the hallway not quite clear why everyone was mad at him but pulling himself up to his full height he made his way along to his dorm room, he would talk to Kurt in the morning.

…

Nick and Jeff sat down on Nick's bed both looking at the bathroom door, Kurt was inside and they were determined to talk to him. After a few minutes he came out fastening up the cuffs on the clean shirt he had changed into along with a pair of his ultra skinny jeans. The two Warblers had matching grins as they watched the countertenor cross the room to fix his hair.

"Off to study then?" asked Nick, his voice full of glee.

"Erm yeah."

"And you'll be back by curfew?" Jeff quizzed.

"Of course, but you two can have the room till then." Kurt said helpfully, putting on his jacket and popping his keys and phone in the pocket.

"Got everything you need?" chuckled Nick.

"Yes, I've got everything," and Kurt made his way towards the door.

Just as he reached for the handle Nick called, "Erm Kurt, don't you usually need your chemistry books to study with Thad." Kurt's face was scarlet as he turned back towards the two boys who were thoroughly enjoying every minute of the conversation. As Kurt opened his mouth to make some excuse Nick added, "Have fun and don't forget to be safe!" Deciding it was safer not to reply Kurt quickly left the room leaving Nick and Jeff laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yeah, another update. So a few people have commented on the slow build up and I think it works for this story (and others seem to agree which is good). I did then realise as I was getting ready to post this that this is chapter 5 and it's actually only the second day of the story! Anyway Blaine clearly needs to find out about Eddie soon and I have a number of ideas on how he finds out but I can't decide so I'm going to put a poll on my profile and list the options at the bottom of this post and you can either tell me by PM, in a review or by poll which you want to read.**

Kurt looked at his phone as he made his way across the grounds towards Murray House, it was quarter to nine which meant he had just over an hour until he needed to be back for curfew. Climbing the stairs towards Eddie's room he felt the nerves kick in, what was he doing? He barely knew this guy and no one knew where he was (well they knew he was somewhere in Dalton but not who he was with).

Finally reaching the door to room 315 Kurt raised his hand to knock and froze. Taking a deep breath he went to knock again but his body just would not cooperate, he was unable to move. "Get a grip Hummell," he muttered to himself and for a third time he took a deep breath, lifted his hand and the door opened revealing a very surprised looking blonde boy.

"Erm hi!" spluttered Kurt.

"Hi," replied blondie, "are you hanging around out here for a reason?"

Kurt heard a deep chuckling coming from inside the room and suddenly Eddie was at the door. "Don't scare him off Rylan, he doesn't know how crazy you are" Pushing the blonde boy to the side he opened the door fully and smiled at Kurt, "Do you want to come in?"

Nodding slightly, Kurt took a few steps inside the room and Eddie shut the door. "OK introductions, Kurt this is Rylan, my insane roommate and Rylan this is Kurt who I am doing a history presentation with. And now we've established all that Rylan I believe you were off to the common room while Kurt and I work." Eddie's little speech left no room for doubt so Rylan simply waved his hand goodbye and left the room.

Kurt stepped into the middle of the room looking around while Eddie closed the door behind him. He made his way over to the book shelf and was slowly running over the titles of the books and DVDs that were crammed into the shelves before turning to look at Eddie who was still standing at the door with an amused look on his face. "See anything you like?" he said moving towards Kurt with a grin.

His face instantly flushing Kurt turned back to the shelf and he pulled out James Bond in Goldfinger, holding it up to Eddie, "So which Bond is your favourite then?"

"Well, while the newer ones have certain qualities I would go for the original Sean Connery every time. I wouldn't have pegged you for a Bond fan?"

"I know everyone views me as more Disney prince or more often than not princess but I do enjoy a good blow 'em all up movie too. It was just my dad and I at home for a long time and there was only so much singing mice and dancing teapots that he could take but we both enjoyed a good action film. I think the Die Hard ones are probably my favourite though."

Eddie slowly walked over to the shelves and leaned over Kurt's shoulder, pulling out a box set, "So one, two or three?"

"Definitely one, without doubt the best." The shorter boy moved slightly to the side as his heart rate increased.

Recognising the change in the boy's body language Eddie moved back from the shelves and pulled out his desk chair. "Have a seat Kurt, before you hyperventilate," there was a teasing to his voice but he was also concerned to see Kurt panic as he had moved close to him. Not wanting to push things Eddie crossed the room and sat down on his own bed, facing the blue eyed boy. Kurt smiled slightly, all the thoughts and fears from the afternoon swirling in his mind and unsure how he was supposed to react.

Sensing that Kurt was not going to take the lead Eddie sighed deeply before asking, "Do you want to do some work on our project, we've got about 40 minutes until you would need to leave." With no response from Kurt he continues, "Or maybe we should have a talk…. if not today then soon." Hearing this Kurt's face snapped up and his eyes were staring with a piercing blue colour, as if trying to drill into Eddie's soul.

Eventually he replied, "Look maybe I shouldn't have come tonight, I should just leave."

"What! Why?" Eddie went to get off the bed, to engulf the skinny boy in his arms but managed to restrain himself and pulled himself to sit up against the headboard. Several minutes passed with the boys both just looking at each other, around the room, at their own body anything to avoid breaking the tentative link they had. Eventually it got too much for Eddie, "Look Kurt if I have upset you or made you feel uncomfortable then I'm sorry. I thought I had given you chances to pull back from everything but if not I am truly sorry but I'm not sure what you are doing here if you don't want to at least spend time with me."

For the first time that evening Kurt took time to really look at Eddie, there was genuine sorrow in his eyes. "You haven't done anything, you've been nicer to me than I deserve. I just…it's just…..argh I don't know how to explain it. I've loved the short amount of time we've spent together but I don't know what we're doing and I guess I don't want to get too emotionally tied to someone who just wants a quick …."

Looking at Eddie's face Kurt instantly realised that he had misread the situation. "You still think this is some kind of joke or bet? What that I win a bottle of tequila by screwing the newest Warbler or something?" Too agitated to sit still Eddie got off the bed and started wandering around the room before going into the bathroom to splash some water on his face. When he came out Kurt was still sitting on the chair by the desk, his eyes trained on the bathroom door. "Do you know what I think Kurt? I think you are so obsessed with Blaine 'fucking perfect' Anderson that you can't see past him. No one is going to live up to the idolised image you have of him and so you are scared to even try." Walking over to the door Eddie put his hand of the door knob, "I think you're right, I think you should go."

This wasn't what Kurt had expected and the whole speech throws him from his thoughts. "I don't understand, what about the project?"

"I'll give you the notes I made this afternoon on my own and you can submit them as part of your work or we can try to put our personal feelings aside for a few more hours in order to finish it together."

"You worked on it this afternoon?" Kurt asked cautiously suddenly feeling very guilty about going off with Blaine and Niff.

"Well yeah, I had sort of thought we could get through some work before dinner and maybe do something after… doesn't matter."

Kurt stepped forward reaching out for Eddie's hand, he wanted to pull the boy close and try to make up for everything he'd just said but Eddie was clearly not interested. He pulled his hand out of Kurt's grasp and opened the door. "Goodnight Kurt, you can let me know about the project tomorrow."

Nodding his head in agreement Kurt stepped out of the room and made his way along the corridor with a feeling of sickness growing with every step. Once outside he realised he couldn't go back to his dorm. He'd told Nick and Jeff they could have the room right up to curfew and if he went to the common room there is every chance Blaine will be there and even if he's not there would definitely be other boys. At that moment Kurt couldn't face being with anyone, he needed time to think and process so he took a walk round the grounds.

He walked over to the little rose garden, far away from all the dorm rooms but still gently lit from the various school buildings. It had quickly become one of his favourite places to sit as there was only two benches and the checkerboard pattern made from rose bushes meant it wasn't an area any of the boys would try to run through. It was also quite sheltered with bushes built around making an enclosed area to protect the roses from harsh wind. Kurt had always felt it was a pretty romantic place and had frequently thought about being there with Blaine, talking quietly and exchanging slow kisses. How things had changed in just a few days! Blaine still wasn't interested in him and seemed mad at him and now he had blown things with Eddie, someone who did, possibly, perhaps like him.

Sitting on the little wooden bench Kurt couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He sat and cried freely, he had messed up one of the best things to happen to him in a long time. Was Eddie right? Could Kurt not see past Blaine and the fictional romance in his mind? He replayed the conversations he had had with Eddie, had the boy ever given him a reason to think he wasn't genuine? Try as he might Kurt couldn't think of a single thing Eddie had done to suggest he wasn't genuinely interested in Kurt and being with him. The tears changed from sadness to frustration at the fact he had let his insecurities get in the way of what was potentially a good thing.

A quick look at his phone revealed he only had ten minutes until curfew. As he stood to leave he suddenly realised it was going to be obvious to everyone that he had been crying, jeez he really hadn't thought any of this through! With luck he could make it up to his room and into the bathroom without seeing anyone, assuming that everyone had already left the common room and Nick had decided to go to Jeff's room to say goodnight, well he could but hope!

…

Lady Luck was clearly his friend as he managed to reach his room without seeing anyone he really knew, he passed a couple of sophomores who gave him vaguely concerned looks but didn't ask questions. He opened the dorm room to find Jeff trying to pull on his jumper while Nick kept trying to pull him back down to the bed. "Nick, I need to go, I can't get another demerit this week," Jeff moaned and they both looked up as Kurt tried and failed to shut the door quietly.

They both immediately got off the bed and started to move towards Kurt but he shook his head and ran into the bathroom locking the door behind him. He could hear muttering as Jeff left the room before there was a knock on the door and Nick's voice slightly muffled through the door, "Kurt, come out….I just want to know you're OK."

"I'm fine Nick, I just need to have a shower." He turned on the shower and sat back on the floor of the bathroom hoping the noise would muffle the last few tears which were still threatening to fall. He was vaguely aware of noise in the dorm room but guessed it was whichever senior prefect was on duty checking everyone was back. After a few minutes he pulled himself off the floor and decided he probably should have a quick shower, at least then his swollen eyes and red cheeks could be blamed on the hot water.

After a shortened version of his moisturising routine Kurt finally opened the door of the bathroom knowing that if he stayed much longer Nick might become worried enough to call someone. He opened the door cautiously and was relieved to see Nick lying on his bed looking at a magazine. He made his way across the room to find some pyjamas and as he opened the drawer Nick called out, "I'm going to get ready for bed then we're going to talk," before he shut the bathroom door.

With a sigh Kurt got into pyjamas and pulled his phone out of his pants pocket before putting his washing in the laundry hamper. As he put his phone on to charge Nick came out of the bathroom and immediately came and sat next to Kurt on his bed, pulling him in for a big hug. As the dark haired boy pulled back he continued to watch Kurt as if to see his reaction. When the blue eyed boy didn't say anything Nick sat back against the headboard of Kurt's bed getting comfy before he said, "Spill."

After a moment's hesitation Kurt said, "There's nothing to spill."

Patting the space next to him on the bed Nick waited until Kurt had settled himself beside him before continuing, "Really, you want to play this game? This is Dalton Kurt, we may be boys but boys gossip just as much as girls, especially when there aren't any girls around! You throw up during gym class, you look so excited you might burst over a few texts this afternoon, you dress to kill for a one hour 'study date' and then come back in tears before hiding in the bathroom for over half an hour. Clearly you have nothing to spill."

"It's just…..I really screwed up and now I don't know what's going on and he hates me and I'm lying to Blaine and what if Blaine speaks to Thad about the tutoring, he'll know I lied and I think I'm making stuff up in my head and maybe he was right that I…."

Nick placed a gentle hand over Kurt's mouth, "Breath Kurt." Once it was clear the countertenor was a little calmer Nick continued, "Look first I want to know you're OK." Kurt looked at his roommate totally confused so Nick continued, "You looked really upset and scared when you got back, Jeff and I were just worried that you had….you had been forced into something."

"Oh, oh god no. Quite the opposite in fact." Nick visibly relaxed at this statement.

"OK, that's a relief. You know if anything ever did happen you could talk to me right."

"I promise, nobody did anything to me tonight."

"Good, so do you want to talk about what happened that got you so upset?" Kurt shook his head. "OK, I don't suppose you want to tell me who this mystery man is?"

"I'm not sure there is a mystery man anymore, look it's getting late. Can we leave this for now and get some sleep?"

"Ok, but just remember I'm here if you do want to talk."

Kurt pulled Nick into another hug, "Thanks roomie, you're the best."

As he tucked himself tightly under the comforter, building a sort of barrier between himself and the rest of the world, Kurt picked up his phone and found he had missed two text messages.

**10.08 From Blaine: Hope studying went well. I enjoyed our afternoon, maybe we can do something together again soon.**

**10.15: From Eddie: Hey, Sorry for earlier. Tomorrow at 4 in the library for history? E x**

Placing the phone back on his night stand Kurt closed his eyes for what he seemed sure would be a difficult night's sleep.

….

**So how does Blaine find out?**

**a - He sees them together**

**b - Kurt tells him**

**c - Either Nick or Jeff let it slip**

**d - He spots a hickey on Kurt's neck and wants answers**

**e - Another option**


	6. Chapter 6

**OMG, thank you so much for the feedback and the amazing ideas for the 'big reveal'. I have, what I hope, is a great storyline incorporating some of the ideas and clearly most of you love the idea of Kurt having a hickey so that's definitely in there. This chapter is one whole day and I hope let's you see more about the character's relationships. I am going on holiday tomorrow – yeah, so it will be a while before anymore updates as I won't have my laptop but I can access my email. I have another question for you at the end so don't forget to read it and give me your thoughts.**

As predicted Kurt barely slept, his dreams were full of broken promises and lies and once he woke around 5am for the sixth time he decided to give up on sleep altogether. Not wanting to wake Nick he quickly pulled a hoodie over his sleep T-shirt and sweatpants and slipped on a pair of socks and grabbing his bookbag and phone crept out of the room and down to the common room. Having done no homework the previous night he was quite glad to have time to complete his chemistry homework in peace rather than trying to get it done in his lunch break.

Trying to keep his mind occupied and thus avoiding the difficult issues which he actually had to think about he moved swiftly on to his English essay which was due in a few days. However analysis of Wordsworth greatest poems only held his attention for a short time before he noticed his phone flashing with a missed text.

05.26: From Eddie: I can't sleep, I feel bad, I didn't mean to throw you out.

Kurt's heart leapt as he read it, maybe things weren't as bad as he had feared. He then realised that he hadn't replied to Eddie's text the night before, was Eddie really worried that Kurt didn't want to meet him. Knowing that he had to remedy the situation Kurt replied.

06.18 From Kurt: I can't sleep either. I'm now in the common room doing homework.

Seconds later he got a reply.

06.19: From Eddie: Yet again I regret that we're not in the same halls, I could have kept you company.

06.20: From Kurt: You could come over!

Kurt's finger hesitated over the send button before he pressed it, maybe he was pushing his luck, well he'd never know if he didn't try.

06.21: From Eddie: Under other circumstances I would but I'm still strictly on probation and must stick to the rules for now : (

With that one sentence Kurt's confidence was thrown again. He didn't really know this guy, he was letting himself get sucked into something when he didn't know all the details and he didn't like it. They had to talk and soon!

06.35: From Eddie: Are you sulking? :-/

06.43: From Eddie: Kurt? You fallen asleep?

07.10: From Eddie: Wakey wakey gorgeous.

07.40: From Nick: Where are you? You'll be late.

Kurt's head snapped up at the last text from Nick, where had the time gone? Not knowing what to say to Eddie Kurt had turned his focus back to his essay but he had spent more time trying to work out how to tell Eddie they needed to have a talk rather than focussing on the imagery in the poems. Nick's text had brought him from his trance and he quickly sent Eddie a text to say he would meet him at 4 to work on their project before gathering his things and heading up to the dorm.

…..

As he opened the door to the dorm he was greeted by Nick and Jeff, curled up on Nick's bed engaged in a heavy make out session, making the most of the empty room. They both looked up as the door opened and Nick's face moved through a series of emotions as he was clearly relieved to see his roommate but less than impressed at being disturbed.

"Sorry, I'll just…." Kurt pointed towards the bathroom quickly making his way past Nick's bed.

"Been anywhere exciting?" Kurt rolled his eyes at Nick's enthusiasm as he asked the question.

"Just doing some homework down in the common room."

"You know," Jeff smirked, "with all this studying you seem to be doing of late you're going to be top of the year in no time."

"Whatever!" Kurt firmly shut the bathroom door before he looked in the mirror. The bags under his eyes were not looking great and he was pretty sure his skin was even paler than normal. He was just about to turn on the shower when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Seriously Nick, can't you and Jeff entertain yourselves without me," he yelled as he pulled open the door to find a rather amused Blaine.

"So… you, Nick and Jeff. I almost feel insulted not to have been invited."

Relieved that Blaine was laughing and not yelling at him Kurt smiled and stepped out to the dorm room. Looking around he noticed that Nick and Jeff had left. "They've gone down for breakfast already," answered Blaine in reply to Kurt's unspoken question. "They said I should try to speed you up if you wanted anything to eat before classes started…and I can see what they meant," he gestured at Kurt who was still dressed in the hoodie and sweatpants. "It's a cute look but I don't think it will pass the dress code."

"Yeah, erm I really need to get a move on, see you in English."

"Do you want me to get you something? Maybe a muffin or bagel?"

"I'm pretty sure I have some rice cakes in my drawer and possibly even a banana, I'll make do. If not I know for a fact Nick has a supply of candy hidden for emergencies I can raid."

"Wow, Kurt Hummel eating candy for breakfast, what is the world coming too?" Blaine laughed before he looked at Kurt with serious hazel eyes, "You OK though? I mean you look pretty exhausted."

"I didn't sleep well and eventually went downstairs to catch up on some work but I'll be fine."

"OK, if you're sure." Kurt went to shut the door but Blaine was shifting nervously from foot to foot and clearly had more to say. Looking expectantly Kurt gestured for Blaine to speak. "I just wondered if you wanted to catch up this evening…it's just we haven't seen much of each other this week."

"We spent the whole afternoon together yesterday, remember?"

"Yeah but that was with Nick and Jeff, I…..I meant we haven't had much time just the two of us….you know just to chat."

Knowing he was seeing Eddie at 4 and that he needed to have a long talk with him Kurt was reluctant to make plans with Blaine which he would possibly need to cancel. "Erm, I don't think," and the chickening out he continued, "let me see how much homework I have, I've fallen behind and I need to get back on top of everything. I'd better go and get ready or I'll be late for class." With that he shut the door leaving Blaine very confused and pretty upset on the other side.

…

He made it to his first class, history, without any further interruptions and having found a packet of semi-healthy cookies in his desk drawer for breakfast. Sitting down at his desk he couldn't stop himself looking around to see if Eddie was in the room. His seat was empty and Kurt's chest tightened, what if he was cutting the class so he didn't have to be near him. Looking back to the front to see if the teacher had appeared Kurt watched a group of five boys file into the class chattering away and there at the back of the group was Eddie. He immediately locked eyes with Kurt and flashed a massive smile which sent Kurt immediately into heaven, gosh the boy was gorgeous! Right behind Eddie however was Mr Stevens and the second he put his papers on the table he started talking and the class were expected to listen.

It was a hard lesson for Kurt, he was required to face the front and listen to the teacher but he desperately wanted to turn around and just get a glimpse of Eddie. He managed a few times when someone was answering from the behind him, then it was appropriate to turn around and on each occasion his gaze went straight to where Eddie sat and they grinned at each other like a pair of Cheshire Cats. The teacher was forced on more than one occasion to reprimand Kurt for his lack of focus as he found his mind constantly wandering to thoughts of the first evening at the diner and the lunch under the tree and more importantly to the conversation they needed to have soon.

Eventually the lesson ended and Kurt took his time packing up his books hoping Eddie would not be so slow. Right enough he soon felt a hand brush his neck and warm breath against his ear with the whispered words, "I hope you're not going to be as distracted this afternoon." As Kurt turned with a grin to make a witty reply he found that Eddie was already at the door and talking to one of the guys on the swim team.

…

The rest of the day passed far too slowly for Kurt's liking. It wasn't that the classes weren't interesting and they were certainly challenging so he had to try and stay focussed but he wanted it to be 4 o'clock so he could speak to Eddie. As Kurt came out of his art class just before lunch he was surprised to see Blaine waiting for him. "So I heard all about this great place a short drive from here and thought it would be a good chance to catch up over lunch since you're busy with homework this evening." Blaine immediately said the second Kurt appeared at the door.

"OK, sounds good but we only have a one hour lunch break, we wouldn't even have time to eat."

"Ah but you've forgotten it's the monthly staff meeting today so we all have the first lesson after lunch free." As the boys talked they walked towards the lockers to drop off their books. Nick and Jeff appeared almost instantly to ask if they were going to lunch and Blaine being Blaine invited them to come along too so the four boys headed towards Blaine's car.

There was loud singing and lots of chattering as the boys headed towards lunch and Kurt was so engrossed in the conversation he wasn't looking where he was going until they pulled into the parking lot. His face paled as he realised they were at the diner that he and Eddie had gone to just a few days ago. He slowly climbed out of the car and Nick grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the entrance, "C'mon I'm starving!" he proclaimed and Kurt could do nothing but follow.

The waitress showed them to a booth and Blaine sat on one side with Kurt while Nick and Jeff piled into the other. They were all reading the menu when Jeff asked, "How did you know about this place Blaine? It's not really on your usual route."

"I heard some of the seniors talking about it, apparently it's quite the dating location," Blaine laughed.

"Oh I can't decide what I want," complained Nick, "We've got gym when we get back so I don't want anything heavy."

"The Cajun chicken salad is really good, you'd like it," said Kurt, flushing when all eyes looked at him.

"Have you been here before? I thought you didn't know any places this side of Westerville," questioned Blaine.

"Oh…erm…I just meant it sounds really good, I think I might have it." Blaine accepted Kurt's answer but Nick and Jeff looked at him carefully before Nick gave him a smile which he knew meant 'there's more to this than you're telling us'. Thankfully the waitress arrived at that moment and the boys ordered before discussing new ideas for the Warblers.

As they headed towards the car Nick grabbed Kurt's arm and pulled him back. "So how do you really know this place?" Kurt's cheek flushed and Nick exclaimed, "This is where you were the other night, the one when no one knew where you were."

"Yes but it's just a diner, there's nothing to tell."

"Mmm, one day soon Mr Hummel we are going to sit down and you are going to tell me about what you've been up to with your mystery man."

"C'mon guys," yelled Blaine, "I don't want to spend the next lesson running laps because you two fancied a chat."

They arrived back at Dalton with 5 minutes to spare and the boys headed off to the changing rooms with promises to do something in the next few days.

….

By 4pm Kurt was showered, changed and ready to face Eddie. He had chosen his outfit carefully knowing that he needed his clothes to both help him feel strong and confident. As soon as he entered the library he spotted Eddie sitting at a table near the back chatting with another senior who Kurt recognised from the soccer team. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should give Eddie time to finish his conversation but as when he glanced over he saw both boys were looking at him and Eddie had what he would definitely call a smirk on his face.

Quickly making his way over he dropped into the seat opposite Eddie with a quiet "hi".

"You know I was starting to wonder if the juniors operated in a different time zone to the seniors as here you are again, ten minutes late." Kurt could feel the redness of his cheeks burn as Eddie was right, he was always late.

"Sorry, I had gym before I came so by the time I showered and changed."

"Hey, I'm just joking with you, especially when you turn up in an outfit as stunning as that one. It certainly beats Dalton uniform don't you think Paul?"

Paul nodded in agreement with Eddie before adding, "Although given how long it must take to paint those jeans on I'm surprised you're just ten minutes late. Anyway enjoy your 'study date' boys and Eddie, I'll see you Friday night." With that he took off across the library leaving the two boys staring at each other.

"So gym ehh" "Friday night?" Laughing gently as they both started to speak Kurt gestured for Eddie to speak first.

"So how was gym? In fact how was your day? Feeling tired yet?"

Kurt couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that remembering their text conversation at a ridiculously early hour of the morning. "Well I missed breakfast due to running late, despite being awake nearly two hours before my alarm and Blaine decided we should go out for lunch to a diner he heard about which did a remarkably good Cajun chicken salad," this time Eddie couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"So you're becoming a regular there?"

"Mmmm, maybe I should go a third time this week but with another guy and see if they realise!"

"Or maybe we should go again and bring Blaine, make them really wonder."

"I don't think it was the same waiting staff, I certainly didn't recognise them and besides Blaine invited Nick and Jeff to come too so it didn't look so much like a date." Looking up as he spoke Kurt was surprised to see a flash of something in Eddie's eyes, anger maybe, possibly hurt. Realising what he said Kurt tried to backtrack, "Of course it wouldn't have been a date even if it had just been the two of us since we're just friends. So what are you doing Friday night?"

Eddie blinked several times as if trying to focus again, "Friday night?...Why did you want to do something?"

"No but Paul said something about going out as he left."

"Oh, just a few seniors are heading to a club in Columbus for some drinks. I don't have to go if you had plans."

"Erh no, I'm just being nosey." The two boys sat in silence for several minutes, Eddie fiddling with his phone and Kurt rummaging in his bag, pulling out his relevant notebook and papers. Eventually the silence became overwhelming and Eddie coughed to get Kurt's attention.

"So perhaps we should get down to some actual work today." With a grin Kurt agreed and they worked solidly until Kurt got a text from Blaine stating that he was heading to dinner and was Kurt going to join him.

"I should really go and meet my friends for dinner, I think my head is about to explode from all the information."

"Yeah," agreed Eddie easily, "We're nearly finished anyway. I think one more session should do it."

Kurt started to pack away his things but paused halfway through looking straight at his history partner. "What?" asked Eddie.

"I …..it's just…..god I'm so bad at this."

"Hey," Eddie reached over and grabbed Kurt's hand in his, looking straight in his eyes, "Whatever it is just say it."

"I've really enjoyed the time I've spent with you but…but I feel like there is so much I don't know. It feels like everyone else knows a secret that I don't."

Eddie leaned back in his chair, letting Kurt's hands fall onto the table. "You mean about why I was expelled."

"Well yes and why I was warned away from you…why I feel frightened to even let my best friend or my roommate know who it is I went to see last night and whose text messages made me so happy and excited. I don't even really know what it is you want from me. I just…..I have so many questions and we never seem to have time to sit down and talk about them and it's only been a few days so I know I'm expecting too much but I'm really…" Eddie placed a finger to Kurt's lips to silence him.

"Relax gorgeous, you're starting to ramble." Having seen some of the tension leave Kurt's body and his shoulders drop down Eddie continued, "You are right, you do deserve answers and I'll give them to you. For now you need to go and join your friends and take the rest of the evening to think about what you want to know and let's meet in my room tomorrow after class and I'll tell you anything you want but to answer one of your questions what I want from you is for you to agree to be my boyfriend. Is that something you want?"

"Yes, yes I definitely want that," Kurt answered barely above a whisper.

"Well that's settled then, see you tomorrow boyfriend," and with that Eddie leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Kurt's lips. "Now go and find Blaine before he hunts you down."

Kurt quickly packed the rest of his things and as he stood to leave Eddie grabbed his hand, "Two things, please don't tell anyone about us yet, not until we've talked tomorrow and tell your chaperone that you won't be at dinner tomorrow." Nodding in agreement Kurt reluctantly left Eddie at the library table and went to find Blaine at dinner.

**So to quote Eddie (sort of), take the next few days to think about what Kurt should ask Eddie. What do you think he wants to know? Then let me know.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So erm, here's the next bit – don't hate me, we're getting there!**

He felt like he was floating as he made his way down to the dining hall, he had a boyfriend and a gorgeous one at that. One that he had to keep secret, one who was older than him and no doubt more experienced. A boy who had been expelled from school and who his friends had warned him about. By the time he reached the food service area his stomach was tied in knots again and he felt nauseous. This had to stop! Tomorrow afternoon could not come fast enough and then he could get answers and stop rehashing the same questions, he hadn't even known Eddie a week and his emotions were on a constant rollercoaster.

Clearly muscle memory took over as he got his dinner, a bottle of water and managed to sit down next to Blaine at their usual table. Blaine smiled at him and then looked confused and Kurt knew that he was talking but his mind was still reeling and refusing to settle down to the current task of getting through dinner. It was when Blaine placed his hand on Kurt's forehead that he finally snapped back to the present as Blaine looked across the table to Nick and said he didn't feel like he had fever.

"I'm fine!" Kurt muttered feeling his cheeks burn as his friends all looked on with equally concerned expressions.

"Good, glad to hear it," said Blaine with an obviously false smile. "You just weren't responding to anything we said."

"Sorry, I'm just tired, nothing an early night can't fix." Nick leaned over and stole one of the fries off Kurt's plate with a grin, "So exhaustion is what it takes to get you to eat junk food then, good to know." Kurt looked down at his plate and was surprised to see a burger and fries rather than his usual healthier meal and suddenly understood why his friends had looked so concerned. With a shrug he picked up the burger and tucked in, one high calorie meal wasn't going to hurt.

He tried to pay attention to the conversation but Blaine and Jeff were having some debate about Spiderman against Batman and Kurt really couldn't find it in him to care. However he wouldn't let his mind wander towards tomorrow's conversation, it was too dangerous to think about it sitting with Blaine, Jeff and Nick as he might blurt something out unintentionally so he tried really hard to spend the time looking around and identifying all the students that he knew.

Halfway through his meal he saw a group of seniors enter the room, all laughing and joking loudly as they collected their trays of food and crossed room to a table on the other side of the room. Kurt's heart leapt when he saw Eddie chuckling at something Paul said as they went and it reminded him again of just how stunning the boy was, his eyes lit up with wit and small dimples either side of his mouth as he laughed. He forced himself to look away and not make it obvious but just as Eddie passed his table their eyes locked for a second and Kurt felt all the breath leave his body.

Taking a large drink from his water bottle to steady himself he heard the deep, rich laugh one more time and gulped too much water at once causing himself to choke. Blaine immediately patted him on the back and asked if he needed anything while Kurt's face flushed red as the whole table watched him and his eyes watered as he tried to swallow carefully. Once he had regained control he smiled at Blaine, "Thanks, guess it went down the wrong way."

"No problem, c'mon eat up and we'll head back to the dorm." Kurt picked up a few fries and popped them in his mouth trying not to let his eyes wander to the left and the table of seniors.

"You going out this evening?" Nick asked Kurt with a wink while Jeff had gone off to get them both some coffee to go.

"Nope Nicky," Kurt replied popping the 'p' with a laugh, "I've got no plans at all so I think I'll spend the evening lying in bed and talking loudly to anyone in the room!"

"Fine Kurtie," replied Nick giggling, "I'll remember that when you want me to leave the room for the evening."

"Why would Kurt want the room?" asked Blaine confused, "Oh, do you want to come and watch a movie in my dorm this evening? We haven't hung out, just the two of us for ages."

"Great," Kurt replied forcing a smile, he had really wanted some time alone to formulate his thoughts but Blaine looked so excited at the prospect of a movie night there wasn't much he could say. "Guess you can have some alone room time after all."

"Excellent," Jeff kissed Nick's cheek as he put down the coffee. "C'mon then Nicky, let's get to the room before Kurt changes his mind." The two boys jumped up but Kurt calls to them just before they leave the table.

"I do need to change first so please stay dressed till after that!"

"You'd better hurry then or we're making no promises, oh and you'd probably better knock before you come in." Nick grabbed both trays while Jeff picked up the coffees again and the two of them giggled and danced as they sorted the trays at the clearing station and left the dining hall. Most of the students at Dalton were used to the boy's antics so barely batted an eyelid and Blaine and Kurt just laughed at their crazy friends.

Kurt turned his attention back to his dinner and took a large bite out of his burger and reached over for his water bottle. He turned to look at Blaine when he heard the tenor cough gently, "You alright?" he asked when he saw the strange look on the Warbler's face.

"Erm yeah, it's just you've got some ketchup on your face." Blaine's expression was difficult to read, somewhere between amusement and possibly concern – Kurt wasn't sure. "It's just I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit into your nightly skin routine and I'd hate your skin to erupt because of some harmful tomatoes attacking your pores…." Blaine rambled on while his face became quite flushed as Kurt wiped his cheek with a napkin.

"Did I get it?" Kurt interrupted the lead Warbler's monologue about suitable foods to use as beauty product. Blaine blinked at him as if surprised that Kurt was sitting next there.

"Not quite," he muttered, "May I?" With a slight nod from Kurt, Blaine brought the pad of his thumb to hover above the slight boy's lower lip. He took a deep breath and gently wiped it along the edge of the full, pink lip. His calloused thumb pressed into the corner of his mouth and for a moment time stood still as bright blue eyes looked surprised into hazel ones. Without any acknowledgment Blaine put his thumb in his mouth to suck off the ketchup and looked around the room to break the moment of whatever had just happened.

Kurt sat still, a feeling of shock running through him - what the hell was that? Sighing slightly as Blaine looked away Kurt put one more fry in his mouth and tried to push down the feeling of arousal and embarrassment as the boy, who was not his boyfriend, was someone who had shown no romantic interest in him whatsoever placed thumb into his mouth and sucked!

"I'm done!" he said louder than necessary to try and gain back Blaine's attention.

"Mmph?"

"Dinner," Kurt pointed to his plate, "I've finished, I don't want anymore."

"OK, great." Blaine started to put his dishes on his tray pausing to point across the room, "Erm Kurt, do you know those guys? They keep looking this way."

Kurt looked over and saw the table of seniors. Several of the boys are laughing and one is pointing across the room however his eyes quickly go to his boyfriend who is sitting in the middle of the group with his arms folded and a very annoyed expression. When he noticed Kurt looking he raised his eyebrows clearly questioning what just happened and all Kurt could do was shrug his shoulders because he didn't really have any answers. Eddie looked round the table and said something which caused the rest of the guys to laugh harder but then their attention is turned to Paul and some story he started to tell and with a wink across Eddie turned his attention to Paul too.

Turning his head away Kurt realised that Blaine was still waiting for an answer. "Oh a couple of them are in my history class and I think one is in my French class but that's it."

Clearing his tray and waiting for Kurt to follow Blaine started out on a rant, "Some of these seniors are so immature, I mean you'd think some of them were freshmen the way they act and at least two of the boys at that table are known trouble makers. The way they stroll around this place like they own it, I hope we're not going to be like that next year…."

Kurt barely listened as Blaine continued his speech as they made their way across to the dorms and it wasn't until they were standing on the second floor that Kurt finally interrupted. "That's all great Blaine, I'm just going to go and get changed into my pyjamas and then I'll be along for a fun night of Disney."

"Actually I've been watching a lot of Disney recently, so I was thinking Harry Potter?"

"Do you know what I haven't watched in ages," said Kurt excitedly, "The Die Hard films, Nick's got them and I'm sure we could borrow them."

"No I don't think so," Blaine scrunched up his face at the thought, "They're alright when there's nothing else but I don't really get them. It's the same with James Bond, it's so unnecessarily violent."

Kurt thought momentarily about pointing out the level of violence in Harry Potter too but didn't really feel like debating the issue. At least this way he could zone out and have the time to think that he needed. "No problem, Harry Potter it is then. See you in ten minutes or so."

…..

As he lay in bed an hour before his alarm Kurt replayed the previous evening over in his mind.

_Kurt had quickly changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt, thankful that Nick and Jeff were lying on Nick's bed fully clothed when he entered the room having knocked loudly first, and assured them that he would be at least a couple of hours (oh and to please stick to Nick's bed!) before he left for Blaine's room._

_He had lain on Blaine's bed while the lead Warbler put on the DVD and didn't react when Blaine stretched out next to him. Once it would have made him blush and full of longing lying this close but this time he wasn't sure what he felt apart from confused. The movie played, Blaine commented and quoted lines and Kurt just lay staring ahead but not seeing. Once the movie was over he told Blaine he was going, he was tired after his early start. Blaine pouted a bit but didn't argue. He gave Kurt a hug which lasted just slightly longer than is should have before telling the boy he would pick him up for breakfast in the morning._

_Getting back to his room Kurt knocked and waited a few minutes until Nick opened the door rather red faced. Something in Kurt's face clearly told his friend that he needed some space so Nick grabbed Jeff and they headed off to the common room until curfew. Throwing himself, face down onto his bed Kurt had tried to clear his mind of everything figuring that if he started with a blank canvas of thoughts he could build up from there. Questions popped into his mind about Eddie but also Blaine and despite any promises he had made to himself not to become emotional he couldn't stop a few tears as he as he swayed between feeling excited about building his relationship with the senior but a gnawing regret over losing a chance with the handsome Warbler._

_Somewhere amongst his thoughts he had clearly fallen asleep because when he opened his eyes the room was in darkness and he had a blanket over him. Looking across he could just make out a lumpy shape and he could hear Nick's steady breathing. Closing his eyes again he whispered thanks to his dad and Carole for sending him to this place where he found friends as amazing as Nick who genuinely cared about him._

…

Eventually he gave up any more thoughts of sleep and got up to shower and moisturise, especially once he realised he had forgotten the previous night. In fact the last few nights had been so emotionally draining his skin was suffering neglect more than any other part of his life! When he came out of the bathroom Nick was sitting up on his bed and looked expectantly. Ignoring the obvious stares Kurt went over to the wardrobe to get his uniform together and his body visibly slumped in relief when he heard the bathroom door close as Nick gave up waiting for him to talk and went to get ready.

The reprieve was short lived though as Nick came out of the bathroom just as Kurt finished getting dressed. Moving around the room organising his books for the day the slender boy tried to ignore the huffing and deliberate coughing that came from his roommate who had sat on the bed waiting dressed only in boxers and an undershirt. Eventually though several nights of interrupted sleep and his nerves already frayed meant Kurt's patience had given in and he all but yelled at the dark haired boy, "Do you have a cold? Do you need a cough drop or maybe to see the nurse you sound so congested!" As Nick opened his mouth to answer Kurt grabbed his bag and stormed out of the room.

He ignored the fact that Blaine was going to come and get him for breakfast and stormed out of the building, relieved when the cool wind hit his face. Kurt made his way over to the rose garden, where he had sat only two night ago having had the argument with Eddie, now he was sitting there again after walking out on Nick. He couldn't help but think of all the diva storm outs he had witnessed from his girls in New Direction and the thought amused him that he had clearly absorbed some technique from them. His phone vibrated several times but he ignored it, desperate to try and find some peace within his own body and mind before his first class, without a doubt it was going to be a long day!

…

By the time Kurt had finished his first lesson guilt was eating him for the way he had walked out on Nick. He knew the Warbler had his photography elective class with Blaine for that lesson and they were always late out by the time they put away all the camera equipment so as soon as his French class finished Kurt raced over to Johnstone House, where all the creative classes took place. He knew he had to apologise to Nick and he also knew that he would need to explain to Blaine why he hadn't eaten breakfast with him as planned. He could see Nick and Blaine inside the room tidying up so he took the opportunity to check the messages that he had received that morning.

7.37: From Blaine – Running late, hair won't cooperate! Just head over and I'll see you there.

7.58: From Blaine – Have you already eaten? I thought you'd wait for me : (

8.12: From Blaine - Are you alright? What happened with you and Nick?

8.23: From Eddie – Is there an interesting and amusing reason you are hiding amongst the roses? See you 6pm in the car park –no uniform!

Kurt pushed his back against the wall as he read the last text again and then he remembered that Eddie had said he wouldn't be there for dinner. His mind whirled through possible outfits and where they could be going but before he could text and ask the classroom door opened and out came the two people he was waiting to see.

The two boys looked surprised to see the countertenor standing there but stepped to the side to let the other students out while keeping eye contact. With a deep breath Kurt knew he had to start. "Nick I'm really sorry for snapping at you. I just hadn't slept that well and I'm really tired and stressed and…."

Before he could finish Nick stepped forward and pulled him into a tight hug. As he held the slight boy he whispered in his ear, "As long as you're ok." Nodding his head weakly as Nick released him, the dark haired boy smiled at him before he said, "I think we need a really good roommate bonding session very soon, now I had better run before Jeff sends out a search party for me."

Nick marched off leaving Kurt and Blaine together. "Do you want to talk about it?" asked Blaine bluntly as the pair made their way out of the building.

"Nothing to talk about really. I guess I'm just more stressed than I realised and lack of sleep is turning me into a bitch!" The curly haired boy laughed out loud at that.

"I wouldn't go that far, I've seen your bitch stare remember and you don't seem that mad today." Kurt mumbled an agreement as they walked across the courtyard towards the science block where they both had their next classes. Blaine stopped and grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling him round so they were face to face, "You know you can always talk to me don't you, whatever it is I want to help." Hazel eyes locked with blue as Blaine continued in earnest, "I mean it, Dalton is tough and being away from home and family can be really difficult. Don't suffer in silence, let me support you though this."

"Support me, yeah….thanks. Really though it's nothing I can't handle." The warning bell rang and there was an increase in movement all around as students made their way to their next lesson. Kurt tried to turn towards his classroom and looked back at Blaine in surprise when he realised the boy still had hold of his hand.

With a shrug of his shoulders the lead Warbler let go of his friend's hand mumbling, "Anytime."

…..

Kurt made it through the rest of his morning classes and joined his friends for lunch without any more fights or disruptions. He hadn't exactly been a model student all morning spending a fair proportion of time thinking about Eddie but he had avoided getting called out too many times from his teachers. Thankfully he had a study period straight after lunch and then just English before was finished for the day.

He signed his name on the list in study hall and then left to go to the library. Dalton gave the students a fair amount of freedom so as long as they registered their attendance at study hall and didn't disturb any lessons they were free to work wherever they wanted. Kurt made his way along the corridor and walked past the math rooms when a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him into an empty room. He tried to pull away, panic coursing through his body. He shouted at the person to get away but another hand went over his mouth and when he heard a familiar laugh he looked back.

The look on Eddie's face was difficult to read, clearly he had not expected the countertenor to panic in the way he had. He let go of the thin arm and stepped back holding his hands up. The two boys just stared at each other, neither sure what to say until Eddie eventually cleared his throat and began, "Sorry, erm…it seemed like a funny thing to do, you know drag you into a deserted classroom! I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's OK, I just….well I assume you know why I came to Dalton, I mean everyone else does and it just brought back memories."

"Actually I haven't heard that story, I didn't really think about why you moved. I was too busy looking at the packaging to think about the reasons behind you being here." The line was cheesy but Kurt felt his cheeks heating up anyway.

"Don't worry about it, it's actually quite nice to find someone who doesn't think of me as a 'damsel in distress' or broken!" Kurt said with a rueful laugh.

"OK, so perhaps we need to discuss this more later because I definitely don't think of you as either of those things….and frankly if you were a damsel in distress I wouldn't be looking at you in quite the same way! I'm not interested in any dames." The two boys suddenly found themselves facing each other laughing manically even though nothing was particularly amusing. Once the hysteria calmed Kurt sat down on one of the desks and gestured to Eddie to sit too.

"Ok, so now that's all over I assume you dragged me in here for a reason?"

"Yeah, shit…erm sorry. It's just I haven't heard from you all day and I wanted to check that you were still on for tonight."

Another surge of guilt ran through Kurt, wow he had to learn to stop blaming himself for everything! "Sorry, I had a fight with Nick this morning and then Blaine's been really weird and with classes I just forgot to reply. You said 6 at the car park."

"Yeah, I figured most people would be heading over for dinner and the day students will already have left so there shouldn't be many people about to ask questions."

"Sounds good and you said no uniform so casual, sporty, casual formal, teenage grunge, skank…you need to give me something to work with here!"

"Casual is good, comfortable and something that you don't mind potentially getting dirty."

"You can't stop there, what kind of dirty? Paintballing, army assault course, painting class…c'mon you've got to tell me."

"Nope, it's too much fun watching you squirm! Now as a senior student I am telling you to get your cute ass to wherever it is supposed to be while I go and see the nurse since that's where I told Herr Schmidt that I was going so I didn't have to listen to yet another lecture on dativ and akkusative verb use." With a peck on the cheek Eddie turned and left the room leaving a rather flustered junior sitting behind extremely glad that he didn't actually have a class to go to!

…

Kurt had finally made it to the library and even managed to get half his calculus homework finished before it was time to join Blaine in English. Normally the taller boy was there first as he was coming from a study period but today he ran in the door just in front of the teacher and flopped into his seat. The teacher handed out copies of their new novel study and they were told to read the first two chapters and answer the questions on the assignment sheet.

Kurt had just finished the third page when Blaine tapped his arm. A quick look across the room showed the teacher was tapping away on her computer and not paying any attention to the class, the boys all knew if they didn't finish the work during class time they would have to do it as homework so it gave them an incentive to work harder in class time. "Are you doing anything after class?"

"Erm not really," but an outfit takes time to plan.

"Can you come with me to a music room, I want to run through a few ideas for sectionals and I was hoping you could have a listen, give me some advice."

"Sure, erm how long do you think it will take?"

"Oh…." at that moment Mrs Stewart decided to get up and take a walk around. Both boys immediately turned back to their books and pretended to have done more reading than they actually had! A few minutes later Kurt has read another couple of pages when Blaine tapped his arm again. "It shouldn't take too long, I was thinking we would go straight from the practise room to dinner." He really didn't want to lie to Blaine again but he needed time to get ready not to mention finishing the English homework which he certainly had since he had done so little during the lesson.

"Any other day I would but I'm meeting Mercedes for dinner and I need to finish this work first. How about tomorrow?"

"Yeah fine," muttered Blaine looking back to his novel leaving Kurt confused by the disappointed look on the singer's face.

As soon as the lesson was over Kurt grabbed his things, shot Blaine an apologetic smile and raced off to the dorm to plan his outfit.

…

By six o'clock Kurt had finished his English and calculus homework, had a quick Skype call with Mercedes to cover for him on the off chance Blaine contacted her (and a promise of a longer call at the weekend to tell her all about his new man) and dressed in his most kick-ass, casual outfit. As he walked towards the car park just after 6 he congratulated himself on his look of dark brown skinny jeans, a red button up with a soft grey vest over it and a dark grey pea coat. To finish the look he had on his favourite, most comfortable black doc martens, suitable for almost any terrain!

He scanned the car park quickly and smiled when he saw Eddie propped up against a car. The senior took a few steps towards him and grabbed his hands to pull him close. The taller boy leaned forward and gently kissed Kurt's cheek before moving to his lips with an increased pressure. Eddie's tongue licked along his bottom lip and the younger boy opened his mouth, letting the senior explore.

After a few moments the boys broke apart, both rather breathless and Kurt's cheeks were very flushed. They looked at each other more in surprise than anything else before Eddie started to laugh and Kurt joined in. "Hi," said Eddie once he had calmed down. "I'm glad you made it. I have decided I need to buy you a present though." Kurt stared at the senior in confusion, "Yes, you clearly need a new watch as you have been at least five minutes late every time we arrange to meet."

"Sorry but looking good takes time," snarked Kurt.

"Oh baby I know, believe me when you look as good as you always do I don't mind how late you are. C'mon gorgeous, let's get you fed." Preening slightly at the comment Kurt made his way to the car where Eddie was holding the door open for him. As he sat down the dark haired boy handed him an ipod, "I'm in charge of everything else tonight but you can choose the music!" before he moved round to the driver's side.

…..

They arrived at a large Italian restaurant 15 minute drive from Dalton and were quickly seated in a booth near the back. They made small talk until they had their drinks and had ordered their food and then there was a definite change in atmosphere as Eddie looked at Kurt with a serious face.

"OK, I brought us here because it's usually quite busy so plenty of noise, nobody will be listening to us but it never gets full so we won't be rushed out. Now let's talk, we both have questions. I promise to answer as honestly as I can and hope that you will do the same." Kurt nodded his head in agreement. "If at the end of this you don't want to be with me then I'll back off. Oh and just in case I forget to say it later, thank you for giving me this chance to tell you my side of things."


	8. Chapter 8

**First thank you so much for the amazing reviews especially LvSammy, Bonnie Radcliffe and lilyvandersteen who take time to review after almost every chapter. It really does help my writing to get feedback and know what you are all thinking. Can I also say how amazed and humbled I am for the amount of love for Eddie, I'm quite sad he's gay to be honest as I think I'm in love with him (well that and the fact I'm married!). Just thank you for accepting him so much.**

**I didn't expect to get another update out so soon but as they say, it wrote itself. It's the longest chapter yet and it's the big speech from Eddie. Is it what you expected? **

Kurt looked across at Eddie trying to fight back the tears threatening to spill, the little speech had really touched him and in that moment he really believed that the senior would back off, no questions, if Kurt told him to.

Taking a deep breath Kurt started, "As the song says, 'Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." Eddie couldn't help laughing as Kurt tried to lighten the mood. "So why were you expelled? I assume your bad reputation comes from the same event."

"OK, let me give you a bit of background first, for context. I have two older brothers, Jacob is at Yale studying to be a lawyer and Timothy is in his final year at Harvard training to be a doctor. They both went to Dalton as did my dad. Jacob is two years older than me so we were at Dalton together for a while and he took time to tell me the loopholes in the rules, best places to hide out if you wanted to cut class, easiest teachers to feed sob stories too etc. He said Timothy had done the same for him so he was passing on the information. We're not the closest family, Jacob and Tim always seemed to be studying so they didn't have time to play with me when they came home for holidays but I guess that's why they are where they are now.

Dalton's quite an experience. The teachers are tough but everyone says they are fair, the workload is heavy but manageable and of course we are always representing the school wherever we go. When I started it really got to me, the teachers had me on a pedestal already because of my brothers. I'd hand in work and was constantly being told it wasn't good enough, they expected more from me, my brother never found it difficult etc, etc and after a while it started to piss me off. I am not my brothers, I'm just as smart as them but not necessarily in the same subjects.

For the rest of my freshman year I did try hard though. However during that whole first year the staff continued to compare me to my brothers. Dr Travish in English was the worst, one day near the end of the year he called me out in front of the whole class and told me how crap my essay was and how both my brothers had always gotten A's and how I was clearly such a disappointment to my parents. As you can probably imagine I was pretty upset and I actually ran out of the class."

"I don't think I've met Dr Travish," said Kurt with some relief.

"No you wouldn't have, he retired at the end of my sophomore year and thankfully I only had him that first year. You'd think that having caused that reaction from me he would leave me alone but instead he reported me to my year head who called my parents. I ended up with two days detention at school and then grounded for the first week of the summer break because I was disrespectful to a teacher."

"But he started it, didn't you tell your parents?"

"Of course but he had taught both my brothers and had always given them such glowing reports that clearly it was me who was in the wrong. My dad especially made sure I understood that the teacher's word is final." Kurt grabbed Eddie's hand and rubbed his thumb in small circles over the back of it trying to offer some kind of comfort. Eddie gave him a half smile in acknowledgment. "It's fine, none of the other teachers were as bad and most had given up comparing us by the start of my second year."

There was a polite cough and the two boys looked up to see the waitress standing with two plates of pasta. Once they had their food Eddie continued his story pausing occasionally for a forkful of spaghetti.

"So my second year went better than the first, I had made some good friends and my grades had improved in most subjects. I kept my head down for the most part, joined the soccer team and swimming team and tried to be a 'good little boy'." They both laughed at the way Eddie said it, Kurt squeezed his hand again trying to convey as much support as he could in the touch. "I'm OK, I just have told anyone about this for a while. Anyway by the time the summer came Jacob had been accepted to Yale so my parents were stoked and my report was a vast improvement on the first year one so everyone was happy." With a shrug of his shoulders Eddie turned his attention back to his food for a moment.

"You don't have to tell me if you are uncomfortable," Kurt could see the senior tensing up.

"No, I promised you I'd be honest. It's like ripping off a Band-Aid, you just say it! So during that summer I figured out I was gay and sort of freaked out. We were hanging out at our house with a group of Timothy's friends when one of them, Lewis, asked me to show him a signed James Bond book I have. Now I had always thought Lewis was pretty attractive but up until then I had tried to push the thoughts from my head and usually grabbed a copy of playboy to distract myself with naked girls. That day though we ended up in my room talking about books and DVDs and then somewhere along the line Lewis kissed me."

"Was that your first kiss?"

"No, well I'd made out with girls before, never really felt anything though. This kiss however definitely made me feel something."

"At least you wanted your first kiss," Kurt muttered almost quietly but Eddie still heard him.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," seeing the frown on Eddie's face he continued, "Story for another time, right now I want to hear the end of your tale."

Eddie still didn't look happy but took a breath and started again anyway, "Long story short Lewis and I hooked up a few times and I had more than my fair share of wet dreams about him! We didn't do much, lots of making out and a bit of fooling around just before I returned to Dalton. For me it was pretty hot, I was 16 and in my head spent the summer with my 19 year old boyfriend." Kurt looked up at him in surprise, "Oh I know he wasn't really my boyfriend, let's face it he was horny and I was available. I've always been thankful that he didn't push me to do more than jerk him off, it could have been a much worse scenario. In fact I heard from Timothy last summer that Lewis is now engaged to a lovely girl from Washington so maybe that's why, he wasn't really gay at all. Regardless of his reasons he did help me figure stuff out in my head and before I went back to school for junior year I came out to my parents."

"I'm guessing they didn't take it well."

"They didn't really react at all, they both carried on clearing the dishes as if I had spoken. I realise now that they were just trying to process it, I mean they're all fine with it now. Both my folks and my brothers support me totally and Timothy always jokes about that summer and how he now understands why Lewis was always so keen to come over. At the time however I saw it as rejection."

"How long did it take them to 'process'?"

"I was leaving for school the next day and before we drove over they sat me down and told me they loved me, that they were sorry for not saying it the night before and as long as I was happy and safe they would support me 100%." Eddie wiped his eyes gently as tears started to gather at the moving memory.

"Wow, that's great, they sound similar to my dad although in my case my dad says they knew when I was three and asked for a pair of sensible heels for my birthday. He's totally supportive and will do anything for me, even spend a fortune on private schooling so I can be who I am." Both boys smiled at the memories knowing that they were luckier than many for their understanding families. After a moment Kurt broke the silence, "Carry on or we're going to be rushing for curfew again!"

With a grin at the memory of their last meal Eddie continued, "I got back to Dalton that day, met up with my friends and we were having the usual catch up but at the back of my mind I couldn't help replaying my conversation with my parents. For some reason I was fixated on the fact they had ignored me on the Saturday night, at that moment nothing they had said on Sunday could erase the feelings. As term started I…..I guess I wanted to prove to myself and my parents that there was nothing wrong with being gay and boy did I try to prove it! The first week back I hooked up with three different guys and during that week I came out to my friends. Nobody said anything negative but out of five, two of them became really weird around me."

"Weird in what way?"

"Didn't want to hang out alone with me, wouldn't come into my room, I guess they were scared I'd jump them or something."

"I know all about how that feels." Kurt said with a grimace.

Eddie looked him straight in the eyes, "I detect you have quite the story too Mr Hummel."

"I do but for now it's still your turn."

"So I continued hiding in deserted classrooms and alcoves making out with random guys on a pretty regular basis. I was caught a few times and got detentions but it was when I was caught in one of the science labs sucking off the captain of the senior lacrosse team that my parents were called in. As you can imagine they weren't best pleased but they told me that straight or gay I was at school to learn. They threatened to take my car away if there was a repeat incident so I was a lot more careful after that.

It was the following week when I met Max. I'd seen him around but never really paid that much attention because everyone knew he was trouble." Kurt gasped, now why did that sound familiar and from the smile on Eddie's face he knew what Kurt was thinking. "In many ways Max was good for me, I stopped looking for new guys and we had a proper relationship. However my grades started to slip because I was spending so much time with Max not studying, we were caught smoking twice and eventually I lost my place on the swim team because I hardly ever went training. I quit the soccer team because I would rather be cuddled up in bed with Max on a Saturday morning than running around a muddy pitch. My parents were freaking out, they did take my car away for a few weeks but at the same time they told me I had to come home every weekend which of course meant they had to come and get me so I quickly got it back!

My group of friends was gradually replaced with a group of Max's friends. They were good guys but they did have a cruel streak and I was too wrapped up in pleasing Max to see. Towards the end of that year all my old friends ignored me totally and I had developed quite the reputation. I was still seen as a slut for being with so many guys despite the fact Max and I had been together for several months and because I smoked and had the odd dorm party with alcohol. There are so many hypocrites around the place, I mean your precious Warblers have alcohol at many of their parties and everyone considers them to be rockstars." Kurt opened his mouth to defend his glee club but Eddie waved it off, that wasn't the point of the comment. "By this time it was nearing end of term exams and the summer and my parents told me that if I did not ace my exams I could kiss goodbye to the summer as I'd be grounded. They even threatened to send me to stay with my uncle and aunt who live in a log cabin in the middle of freaking nowhere! I know my parents and that wasn't an idle threat so I did work my butt off and got pretty much all A's in the tests and along with sweet talking a couple of teachers so that I was able to redo assignments I came out of the year pretty well.

Max was in California for most of the summer with his dad so we skyped a lot and I hung out with my brothers and a few of neighbourhood friends. Anyway I returned to Dalton for my final year and immediately fell back in with Max and his 'gang'. However something had changed over the summer, one of the boys, Fred, took a dislike to a sophomore called Andrew and at some point he decided that we had to make this kid's life hell. It started small and fairly innocent, the group took turns tripping him up or knocking his books out of his hand as he walked past. Then Fred decided we needed to up the punishments as he called them so Max spilt water in the boy's bag one day, Fred knocked his tray over him in the dining room, they hid cigarettes in his room when he knew they were doing dorm checks, that sort of thing."

Kurt felt sick, how could his sweet Eddie be involved in anything like this? His voice cracked as he spoke, "What about the zero-tolerance policy? How could you get away with it? Why Andrew, what did he do to deserve all that?"

"I never really knew why Fred disliked Andrew so much, it was never really discussed and it wasn't until the end when I found out. It turned out Andrew was an amazing soccer player and had made quite the name for himself during his first year at Dalton. When he returned for his second year he and Fred were up for the same position and Andrew got it. Fred in turn quit the team arguing that he needed to concentrate on his studies and Andrew had got quite mouthy and shouted about how much better he was. Looking back I think a lot was said in the heat of the moment but Fred took it seriously and wanted to ruin him.

I was stupid Kurt, really stupid! I was completely blinded by Max and during my junior year he had gradually taken over my life, cut me off from my friends and pretty much made me dependent on him. The summer had been refreshing but once we were back I just wanted to make Max happy so I went along with what was happening. As for getting away with it, they never did anything obvious."

"Never did anything obvious, you were bullying the boy constantly!" Kurt shouted as loudly as he could without alerting the other customers.

Eddie bit his lip and sat quietly trying to formulate his answer. "Yes it was bullying but nobody could prove it. Everything was 'accidental' or done when nobody could see so it couldn't be traced back."

"I assume at some point you were caught."

"Yep, but it's not what you think. One day Max and I were in his dorm having some 'fun' when Fred barged in and started yelling about how the jumped up sophomore needed to be taught one big lesson. There had been a big match that morning against Weston School who are big rivals of Dalton and Andrew had scored two goals and won the match. Fred ranted on and on about how he wanted to fuck him up, make him pay for his superior attitude and he and Max started talking. The ideas they had were totally sick, the boy could have ended up in hospital, if not worse but I had to stay and listen because I wasn't really in a state to leave, if you get my meaning." Eddie smirked and Kurt knew his cheeks were bright red by this stage.

"So what happened? I assume he didn't end up in hospital."

"No, by the time I left Max's room that evening something had snapped in me and I knew Max and I were over. I barely slept that night but by the morning I had a plan so while everyone else went to first lesson I went to the dean."

"Wait, you confessed?"

"It was the only thing to do. I couldn't let it continue any longer, Fred was becoming more irrational and Max would do whatever Fred said. I told the dean everything and by lunchtime our parents had all arrived and there were five of us in total who were expelled. We had the afternoon to clear out our dorm rooms and we were all gone by the time the last lessons were finished."

"Wow, so what happened then? Did the rest of the boys know you had turned them in?"

The waitress arrived with the check which Eddie grabbed before Kurt could move his hand. "My treat, you've been good enough to come and listen, this is the least I can do." They sat in silence waiting for the waitress to come back and once she left Eddie asked, "Do you want to get out of here? Somewhere quiet to finish my epic adventure."

"Sure," Kurt said with a small smile, still reeling from all that he had heard.

….

They drove to a lake a few minutes from the restaurant where Eddie took Kurt's hand and led him over to picnic table near the water.

"Is this OK? I just thought it would be good to get some fresh air. I've got a blanket in the car if you're cold or I could…" Kurt reached out and placed a finger over Eddie's lips to stop him.

"I'm fine and you're rambling. Now we have an just over an hour left until we need to head back and I'd really like to hear the end of the story if you feel up to carrying on."

"Yeah, I'm fine. So where were we, oh yes we had all just been expelled. I don't know if the rest knew I had told, I suspect Max did as we had been together nearly a year so he was pretty good at reading me but he never said anything. Basically the other boys were all called out of class individually and questioned as was Andrew. Fred, of course, denied all knowledge, Max I believe admitted knowing about it but said he was never involved but it was the other two boys, Liam and Henry who pretty much told the dean the whole story. They confessed to everything I had already said and the clincher for me was that they told the dean they had never seen me do anything."

"What, why did they protect you?"

"Because I had never done anything. I knew about it and I may have bumped into Andrew a few times but it was never really intentional. Well I did it once because I knew Max was watching but I barely touched him and you know what the corridors can be like between classes, it happens!"

"So why were you expelled then?"

"I was part of the group, I knew about it and did nothing."

"But you stepped in before Andrew could be badly hurt?"

"Well yes, I couldn't let anything really bad happen to him, he hadn't done anything other than be good at soccer and a bit mouthy at times. Show me a teenager who doesn't get a bit mouthy?"

"What happened to Andrew then? I can't think who he is."

"Oh he's not at Dalton anymore. The dean contacted his parents that day too and they immediately withdrew him. Apparently he had become quite upset with returning after the summer anyway but to then hear that other students had planned to attack him, well it was too much for his parents. The kick in the teeth is that they sent him to Weston and now their soccer team is practically unstoppable!"

Kurt looked out towards the lake, the gentle ripple of the water as the light breeze broke the surface and the occasional stronger gust which provided a larger wave. Along the edge was a group of three ducks swimming around, bobbing their heads under the water. It reminded him of something his dad had said about him when he found out about the bullying at McKinley. Burt had told Kurt that he reminded him of a swan. Like a swan he appeared calm and regal above the water but underneath his legs were paddling madly to keep moving and not give up. Was this how Eddie was feeling as he spoke? On the surface he appeared calm but underneath the exterior how did he really feel? He glanced over and saw Eddie was also watching the ducks, a sad smile on his face. Kurt reached over and squeezed his hand to say it's ok without speaking the words. They sat in silence for a few minutes until the ducks disappeared out of sight, both lost in their own thoughts.

"My head is whirling already but I feel I need to know the rest." Kurt looked at Eddie, "It's a lot to take in but I'll sleep better knowing how you ended up back at Dalton."

"Well as you can probably imagine my parents were furious and surprisingly my brothers were really angry with me too. The atmosphere at home was awful, I was grounded and they confiscated my computer, phone and car so I was pretty much stuck in the house with nothing to do but think and read. My parents were going to enrol me at the local high school as being expelled limited my options for other private schools and they kept threatening to send me to therapy to stop me ending up a delinquent, as they put it.

Strangely it was Timothy and Jacob who sorted me out in the end. They made me kick my smoking habit for which I am grateful and we talked a lot about after my senior year what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be and all that jazz. It was funny, we'd never been that close but they still had a couple of weeks before they were due back at college and they seemed to have agreed that they were going to make sure I sorted my shit out.

They were great at talking everything through with me and they made me realise just how much Max had manipulated me. It was surprising because I'd always thought I was really strong and confident but they helped me identify the different ways he had isolated me from my friends, knocked down my confidence, made me reliant on him and all that jazz. They persuaded Mom and Dad to give me back my phone and computer and encouraged me to make contact with my old friends from Dalton. You can probably imagine most weren't interested but Paul, you've met Paul right? Well Paul and I had been best friends since the first day as freshmen and he was the one who held on the longest when I was in deep with Max and he was also the first one to accept my apology. He came round that weekend and while my folks weren't sure I should be allowed visitors they could also see I was trying to make amends.

Anyway Paul and I sat down with Timothy and Jacob and they all felt I should appeal against the expulsion. The Dalton rules are very strict but while I knew about the bullying I was never an active participant and Liam and Henry had told the dean this when they confessed. Paul also argued that I was protecting Andrew by telling the dean what had happened rather than ignoring it, that even though I knew I risked expulsion I still put Andrew's safety first.

Anyway we put all this to my parents who agreed to try and they sent a letter to the dean and the school board appealing against my expulsion. It took a nerve racking four weeks before we had a decision but they decided that my actions, while not the expected conduct of a Dalton boy, did not breach the rules. However they decided that by not speaking up earlier I did condone the bullying and that required a level of punishment and so I was suspended for a further month."

"Which I guess is why we didn't meet until history on Monday?"

"Exactly, it must have happened just before you arrived."

"So how long were you out of school for?"

"Nine weeks in total."

"Wow, that's a long time to miss. How are you catching up?"

"It's not too bad. The school was actually quite fair and allowed me to complete most of my assignments by email, I guess the dean knew I would be allowed back. It's funny, I never thought I would miss school but when you've got all the work without any of the socialising it really sucks!"

Kurt took another few minutes just to absorb everything Eddie had told him but one thing still bothered him. "OK, I need to ask, why does everyone think you are so dangerous then? You knew about the bullying but didn't participate so why was I warned away from you by my friends?"

"And why have you not told a certain other friend you know me?" Eddie said with a smirk. "Look it's quite easy, once you get a reputation it's hard to shake it. Remember I said I fooled around with different guys at the start of my sophomore year, I smoked and drank, I cut class…. oh and not forgetting my tattoo."

"You have a tattoo? Where? Can I see it?" Kurt asked excitedly.

Eddie laughed out loud, "Got a thing for tattoos do you?" Kurt blushed at his own eagerness, "Hey it's fine and no I don't have a tattoo. I really wanted one for a while and Max convinced me it would be a good idea but I knew my parents would freak and since you need to be 18 to get one I didn't fancy going to a dodgy backstreet shop so I got a really good fake one which lasted quite a long time. It was so funny, everyone was convinced it was real and I think quite a lot of the stories about me stem from that time."

"You seem to have quite a group of friends now though, clearly not everyone believed all the rumours?"

"Paul was amazing, he called and emailed all the time and kept me up to date with what was happening and he's responsible for the other boys giving me a chance. Rylan, you met him, was my roommate from the beginning of the year and no one else had arrived so I got put back in with him. Thankfully we had started talking a few weeks before I returned, in fact once it was clear I was suspended and not expelled most of my old friends were willing to give me a chance. I don't know what Paul said to them and I'll never be able to thank him enough but the weekend before my suspension ended he arranged for us all to meet at his house and we got a lot of things straightened out. He told me that there were two of the group who weren't willing to forget everything that had happened but thankfully the rest were and now we're almost back to the way we were."

"You're really lucky to have such a tight group of friends."

"That I am and I know they have my back if anyone says anything. I know most people don't fully understand what happened and I know there are a lot of lies going around about me but I have a group that know the truth and that's all that matters. Of course I'm glad that you now know the truth too."

With a hesitant smile Eddie leaned across and gently cupped Kurt's chin and ran his thumb along his lips asking permission. Kurt moved along the bench so their thighs were touching and leaned forward pushing his lips against Eddies. Allowing Eddie to increase the pressure Kurt couldn't help but moan as the taller boy's tongue pressed between his parted lips and stroked along the roof of his mouth while his other hand snaked around the slender waist pulling him onto his lap. The heat around the pair increased as the kisses became deeper and Eddie moved his lips to the side of Kurt's neck, pushing his scarf aside, to allow him access to his whole neck. Kurt ran his fingers through Eddie's hair, pulling gently as Eddie sucked lightly at the junction between the neck and collar bone having popped open the top two buttons on Kurt's shirt.

Slowly Eddie's hand moved down from Kurt's waist and pulled the bottom of his button down out from the waistband of his pants. He slid his fingers under the material and stroked the soft skin of the Warbler's stomach. Suddenly Kurt pushed himself off the senior's lap and jumped back from the table, a haunted look on his face as he rearranged his clothes. Eddie took a step towards Kurt but the singer jumped back.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I just got lost in the moment." Kurt took a half step closer but from the look on his face he was clearly still wary. Eddie reached forward and tentatively reached for the soft hand, when no resistance was offered he took both hands in his. "I promise I don't want to rush you and we clearly need to talk about limits very soon… Look it's been a heavy night, you need…..we both need time to process everything and think about what's been said. I also want to know more about your story soon but it's getting near curfew so we had better head back."

Kurt nodded in agreement and still holding one hand Eddie led him back to the car. They were both lost in thought on the way back to school but as they got out of the car and made their way towards the dorms Eddie grabbed Kurt's arm and pulled him back behind Windsor House, out of sight of passing glances. Kurt yanked his arm out of Eddie's grip with more force than was necessary and as he swung it back he hit his hand off the wall behind him letting out a cry.

"Why did you do that? Let me see are you hurt?"

"Don't touch me," snarled Kurt as he cradled his injured hand against his body.

"Fuck!" yelled Eddie at no one in particular. "Look I just wanted to talk to you before you went in and now it's all…..shit."

Kurt couldn't help but giggle at the pained expression on Eddie's face, he had the cutest pouting look and Kurt felt himself lean over and place a feather light kiss on his lips. "I'm sorry, I don't have the best memories of being pulled into dark spaces. It's not your fault…... I should really go and get some ice on this…."

"Of course, it's just…..have you changed your mind….you know, about me. You haven't said much, well anything really."

"NO! No…..I just…..thank you for sharing your story with me. I still want to be with you but you are right we need to work out our boundaries, well my boundaries and if you don't mind I'd like to have time over the weekend to just think about everything."

"Three days, are you sure you haven't…"

"No, I have things I should tell you and this is all happening so fast, I just need a short break. Anyway you're going out with your friends tomorrow night and I have a big test on Monday that I really need to study for so a few days apart will do us good." He leaned forward and kissed Eddie again, this time hard on the lips. As he pulled back he whispered, "Goodnight boyfriend, I'll see you at breakfast."

Kurt turned to walk away but Eddie called over to him, "Goodnight beautiful and let me know how your hand is or I'll just worry." He walked past Kurt and just before he reached the corner he turned back and blew him a kiss.


End file.
